


Like a Hero out of myths

by Dartonus



Category: Touhou Project, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Hopefully no touhou knowledge needed, Izuku has a touhou-style Ability, Kirishima Eijirou Has One For All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Well he's half-youkai, Werewolf Uraraka Ochako, Youkai Midoriya Izuku
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2020-10-13 18:23:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 46
Words: 194,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20586983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dartonus/pseuds/Dartonus
Summary: It's common sense - a normal human is woefully fragile. Without a quirk, one can't hope to be a hero.But, though he may not know it, Izuku isn't quite human, and a Quirk is not the only form of special ability that exists.





	1. Usual Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A normal day in Izuku's life ends up going awry.

Midoriya Inko slid a letter across the table to Izuku as the green-haired boy ate his breakfast. “Izuku, Dad’s letter arrived.”

It was an expected and regular occurrence - despite being far away and unable to easily visit the two of them, Hisashi tried his best to keep in touch with his wife and son, writing to them on a monthly basis, if not more frequently. It had always struck Izuku as slightly odd that he never phoned, but the man always included generous sums with his letters, and so the Midoriyas never wanted for anything, even without considering their relatively restrained tastes. It was thanks in large part to these payments that the family was able to live where they pleased, and they enjoyed a modest two-story house of their own in Musutafu’s suburbs.

Izuku finished eating before reading the letter. It smelled faintly of tobacco smoke, as Hisashi’s letters always did - the man must’ve been a smoker.

_ Izuku, _

_ I’m glad to hear that school’s been going well. I have faith that you’ll be able to enter any high school you set your sights on. I’ve included a little extra - treat yourself to whatever you want. _

_ Much love, _

_ Your Father. _

_ PS - remember Yorimasa. _

A melancholy smile crept onto his face at his father’s traditional closing. While his obsession had always been with modern Pro Heroes, Hisashi had a fondness for ancient folk tales and the heroes and monsters of myth. When Izuku had learned he was quirkless, born powerless in a world of heroes and superpowers, Hisashi had brought up the archer Minamoto no Yorimasa in his next letter. It was a nice image: amongst the other heroes of old Japanese legend, here was one who saved the Emperor through skill at archery, without any sorcery or divine power to aid him. But, as Izuku became increasingly aware as he grew up, those were only stories.

* * *

_ Well, that went worse than expected _ , Izuku thought bitterly as he fished scattered pages of his notebook out of the school's koi pond. His day had mostly gone as normal, but after his teacher had decided to tell the whole class about the quirkless kid’s goal of getting into UA, Bakugo had taken this as an invitation to torment him after class. Any (admittedly small) satisfaction he had at Bakugo discovering that he had specially purchased a scorch-and-waterproof notebook had vanished rapidly when the explosive blond had instead decided to tear its pages out and chuck the mess out the window. 

_ I'll need to see if I can commission Detnerat to make paper that can un-tear - I'm sure it's possible. Actually, would it be possible? There's a number of heroes with transformation quirks and all of their outfits are either relatively sparse on material or made of highly stretchable fabric which would imply that "un-tearing" material, so to speak, is a trickier problem than I'm perhaps giving it credit for, but then again that could also simply be a practical consideration given the disadvantages of looser clothing in a comba- _

Izuku's rambling thoughts were cut off by his blundering into someone at the school gates, clumsily knocking both of them to the ground. He had collided with a glasses-wearing girl with short brown hair. He noted that she wore a purple plaid school uniform, as well as a black hat and a cloak inscribed with norse runes on the interior. She seemed slightly older than him, likely in high school. Izuku recovered first, scrambling quickly to his feet.

“I’m so sorry! Let me help you up.”

“Oh, thank you.” She grinned widely as she firmly grasped his hand, accepting his help hauling her to her feet.

Izuku raised an eyebrow at her strange garb - even her uniform wasn’t one he recognized from any of the schools in the area. He calmed his nerves before asking, “I don’t think I’ve seen you around the area, were you looking for something in particular?”

“A friend of mine told me to wait here, but I think I’m gonna sit at that cafe over there instead. Sorry for the trouble!” She brushed some dirt off her cloak, straightened her hat, and hurried off down the street.

Izuku watched briefly as she walked away, before turning and beginning his own walk home. He decided on his usual route, a winding, isolated path that would give him time to think about his future.  _ I need to figure out a plan to pass UA’s entry exams - I can’t be sure I’ll be able to bring items into the exam with me, but it has to be possible to pass without the usage of Quirks. Some UA alumni have Quirks with limited use cases that I can’t imagine fell within the constraints of the entry exams.  _

He paused in thought in a dimly-lit tunnel below a bridge.  _ It wouldn’t be a bad idea to look at alumni of other hero schools as well, see if any of them seem like I might have a shot, use them as a backup I hopefully won’t need. Any hero training is better than none, at the very least. _ He had just begun to add a reminder into his phone to do just that when a squelching noise behind him made him turn.

He barely managed to identify the source of the noise - a vaguely humanoid mass of dark green slime with a pair of eyes had bubbled up through a manhole cover - before it slammed into and engulfed him. Panicked, he began to thrash around, trying desperately to free his mouth and nose at the very least. The sludge laughed at his efforts. “Calm down, kid. Just take a deep breath and it’ll be over before you know it. You’re a real lifesaver, you know that?” 

Izuku frantically looked for some way out.  _ I was facing him when he grabbed me, so pulling back will be fruitless,  _ he realized.  _ I didn’t have time to take a breath - I need to be quick! _ With all his might, he instead tried to swim deeper into the villain that surrounded him, trying to push through to the other side. _ . _ The villain was quick to react, shifting backwards to keep him centered. “Sorry kid, but I need you more than you do.”

Nothing was working. Izuku could feel himself growing weak; he wasn’t sure how long he had been struggling at this point.  _ So this is how it ends, huh? _

“**TEXAS** **SMASH!**”

It was like standing in a wind tunnel. Hurricane winds blasted his body, flinging the sludge away and spattering the walls with the hapless villain. Wheezing for breath, Izuku looked to his saviour to find…

“ALL MIGHT!?”

The number one hero laughed as he swept the swept the chunks of villain into a dustpan. “The one and only! I really must apologize - I was tracking this villain earlier, but he gave me the slip and you ended up being caught in the crossfire.” He began pouring the accumulated slime from the dustpan into a soda bottle. “Regardless, I suppose it all worked out in the end. Is there anything I can do for you while I’m here?”

“I- um- ah-” Izuku frantically tore through his pack to retrieve his notebook, frantically flipping to the page on All Might. “Please! Could I have your autograph?”

All Might grabbed a pen from his pocket and scrawled his signature with the practiced ease one would expect from a hero in the public eye as much as he was. “No problem at all, kid! Always happy to give a signature to a fan! But, alas, a hero’s work is never done - I need to get this ruffian to the police and resume my rounds!” He crouched, preparing to take off in one of his famous leaps.

On an impulse, Izuku lunged for All Might’s leg. “Ah - wait! I still have so much to ask you!”

* * *

Thankfully, All Might’s leap touched down on a relatively close rooftop. All Might scolded Izuku as he was catching his breath from the turbulent flight. “Kid, that was extremely dangerous! You could’ve been badly injured or even killed! Now if you’ll excuse me, I really must go.”

“PLEASE! I… I need to know. Can I become a Hero, even without a Quirk?”

All Might paused at this question. Izuku continued, “All my life, I’ve dreamed of being a hero and saving people. I don’t have a Quirk, but is it still possible for me to become someone like you, someone who saves people with a smile on their- EHHHHHHHHHH?”

All Might had exploded into smoke. When it cleared, a haggard, skeletal man stood in his place.

“WHAT? AN IMPOSTER?”

The man coughed up a bit of blood and wiped it away before speaking. “I am All Might.”

“I DON’T BELIEVE YOU!”

“It’s like how people flex and hold it while they’re at the pool, you know? To make themselves look buffer than they actually are?” All Might sighed before continuing. “I wish I could tell you that you have a chance, kid, I really do.”

He pulled up his shirt, revealing a horrific pattern of spiderwebbing scar tissue and cratered flesh, running up the entire left side of his torso. “I’ve never revealed this to the public because it would undermine the image of the Symbol of Peace. I received this injury five years ago in combat with a powerful villain.”   
  
Izuku was struck dumb at the sight of the horrific wound his idol had sustained.

“My stomach was destroyed and my respiratory system was crippled. As a result of this I’m a shadow of my former self. My strength is limited to only around three hours a day of activity.” All Might let his shirt drop back down.

“A Pro Hero can’t always guarantee that things will go their way. At some point, you  will be in a life-or-death struggle. I can’t tell you it’s possible to be a hero without a quirk.” He paused at the entrance to the rooftop stairwell.

“Having a dream isn’t a bad thing, but it’s important to keep them realistic.” And with that, he was gone.

* * *

Izuku was still winded from descending the office building’s stairwell as he walked past one of Musutafu’s many shopping streets.  _ I need to work on my fitness… what a joke. I honestly thought I had a shot at becoming a hero when I can’t even handle a few flights of stairs. All Might was right, I’d just be walking to my death in heroics. _ He stopped. A large crowd had gathered, gawking and commenting on some spectacle further in. Some of the chatter reached his ears.

“Is nobody going to help? Those heroes are just standing there letting this happen.”

“If their quirks aren’t suited to the situation they’ll just make things worse.”

“He’s got a hostage and the kid’s letting loose with a strong quirk, a single misstep and things’ll get ugly quick.”

“Even without a hostage, that Slime guy’s quirk probably makes him tricky to take down.”

_ Slime? _ Izuku started forcing his way through the crowd of onlookers.  _ Don’t tell me… _

It was as he feared. The Slime villain stood in the middle of the street, grappling with another victim.  _ He must’ve gotten free when I distracted All Might!  _ A sudden explosion temporarily freed the victim’s head from the mass, just long enough for Izuku to glimpse their unmistakable blond hair.

_ Kacchan. _

Before he knew what he was doing, Izuku had torn loose from the crowd, deftly ducking the arms of a hero trying to keep the crowd back -  _ Death Arms _ , he briefly recognized - and sprinting towards Bakugo and the Sludge. Acting on instinct, he slung his backpack down from his shoulders and hurled it into the Slime villain’s face before attempting to shovel handfuls of slime away from Bakugo’s mouth to free his breathing.

“WHY ARE YOU HERE!?” Bakugo raged in true Bakugo fashion the moment his mouth was free.

“I- I don’t know! My legs just moved on their own!”

The Slime surged around them as the villain recovered, attempting to force them apart when suddenly Izuku felt a muscular hand close around his wrist. 

" **DETROIT SMASH!** "

Roaring winds buffeted Izuku for the second time that day as the slime was violently torn away from the struggling boys. After a brief moment of stillness, rain began to fall as the gathered crowd cheered the number one hero's timely appearance. The heroes who had been standing by watching the incident rushed in to check on the children who had been at its center.

"That was an extremely reckless thing you did, kid! You could've been badly injured or even killed, and you had no way to know how the villain would react! If his impulse had been to kill the hostage you'd have blood on your hands, you hear me? In the future you should really stay behind the perimeter and let the licensed heroes-"

Izuku was not, in fact, listening. It's not that he wasn't trying - he could see Death Arms's mouth moving, and was trying his best to give the hero his full attention, but his limbs felt numb and heavy and his head swam. The sound of his voice was faint, as though Izuku was submerged in water and trying vainly to hear someone shouting above the surface. When Death Arms's mouth finally stopped moving and the hero seemed to be awaiting a response, he nodded and walked away.

He had made it within around 5 blocks of his home, well into the residential area, when someone else grabbed him roughly and spun him around. He vaguely registered that it was Bakugo who had seized him.

"--, ---- ! - ----- ----- --- ---- --------- --- -- ---- --! - --- ---- ---- -- ------!"

Izuku stared blankly, trying to parse something, anything, from the muffled sounds. Bakugo shook him and shouted something else before releasing him and storming off. He watched the blonde depart for a few moments before attempting to shake off his daze and continue walking home. He only made it a few staggering steps before he collapsed, his vision fading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading my humble effort.


	2. The Arcane is Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku starts to discover just what exactly he's gotten into, and starts to explore his power.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, the response I got on the first chapter was better than I could've hoped for, what with this being my first fic and all! Thanks for your support, and hopefully this continues to be an interesting story for you guys.
> 
> Also: oops, one thing led to another and this is more than twice the length of the first chapter.

A faintly staticky male voice cut through the fog of unconsciousness.

“...and in more recent news, the disgraced physicist Okazaki Yumemi has been dismissed from her professorial position at Yabin University. Sources familiar with the decision state that…” 

Izuku blearily blinked his eyes awake, fumbling for his alarm. His hand found nothing but air where his bedside table would normally be. Looking over to figure out how he had missed a piece of furniture that had been in the same place for ten years, he saw that the walls were bare of decorations and painted the wrong color. This was _ definitely _not his room.

"-butted heads with her colleagues in the weeks prior to her dismissal. Yabin University's professor of Quirk Studies, Utagashi Hiroshi, had this to say-”

Jolting fully awake at this realization, he shot straight up and looked around frantically. He had been laid on a futon in a sparsely furnished apartment living room. A table near the wall held a radio, which had been left tuned to some news channel.

“-while I am disappointed to see the departure of such a young and gifted genius, Miss Okazaki's outrageous statements more than justify the university’s decision. Perhaps eighteen years of age, regardless of intelligence, is simply too young for such fanciful notions to be discarded in favor of hard science. I have faith that she will grow out of such childish ideas and look forward to hopefully working with Miss Okazaki at such time.” 

Izuku crossed the room and flipped the radio off before scanning the room. Spotting an attached kitchen, he hastened to it and began to ransack the drawers and cupboards in search of anything useful.

_ Alright, I’ve been kidnapped for some purpose. There are no visible hindrances to prevent me from leaving, so either they’re watching this room or they’re only out briefly and didn’t expect me to recover just yet. _

He groaned - every cabinet and drawer in the kitchen was empty. _Who gets an apartment with a kitchen then never even gets cutlery for it?_  
  
Growing more desperate, he moved on to ransacking the broader apartment, whipping table drawers open haphazardly, flipping cushions over, and making no effort to clean up after his frenzied search.

_ Ideally I can find something to alert the authorities and get help. In the worst case, I have to find something I can use to fight off an unknown villain or villains, who possibly have access to an unconsciousness-inducing Quirk. At the very least, since I’m able to do this right now they’re probably not competent. _

In the apartment’s bedroom, his desperation bore fruit: a boxy pistol made of 3d-printed plastic lay on top of the dresser.

_ Alright, they’re _ _ definitely _ _ not competent. Is this a Liberator? I’ll need to be careful using it, and it’ll make a better threat than an actual weapon considering it’s single-shot, but it’ll definitely be good enough to secure my escape against a single villain. The real question is how to deal with their allies if they have any - abducting me on a street in broad daylight means they have access to either concealment abilities, transportation quirks, or both, and if they’re still with whoever’s in charge of holding me I could have reinforcements breathing down my neck in seconds, _

Izuku cut his thoughts off as he heard the apartment door swing open on squeaking hinges. He pulled back the Liberator’s hammer as carefully as he could to avoid making noise, and slowly maneuvered so he was waiting beside the only door into the bedroom. From the living room, a girl’s voice called out, “I’m home! Oh, you’re up. Have a pleasant nap? Feeling healthy?”

_ Okay, one villain, quirk unknown, they know I’m up and that I’m probably in this room. My advantage is that I’m armed and can likely get the jump on them as they enter. _

The girl spoke up from directly behind him. “Yeah, you’ll want to get that muttering looked at maybe.”

Izuku whirled around, 3d-printed pistol at the ready. He jolted slightly upon realizing that he now held the same brown-haired high schooler from yesterday at gunpoint. She glanced at the gun nonchalantly.

“You should put that down.”

“I- I’ll shoot you.”

“You think I’d leave that lying around if it was any danger? Come on, Izuku. That thing poses no threat to me, and even if you don’t know it, it doesn’t pose a threat to you either. The worst that happens if you fire it is we get a noise complaint and some plastic gets embedded in the walls and floor. Honestly, I forgot I even still had it.”

“How do you know my name?”

“I’m one of M- er, Hisashi’s friends, that’s how. I was asked to keep tabs on you, for the eventuality that you’d start to fade away.”

He quirked an eyebrow at the strange terminology. _ Fade away? _ She paused for a moment before continuing on.

“You don’t believe me, so I’ll give you some proof that I mean you no harm. Go ahead and leave, I won’t do anything to stop you.”

Not taking his eyes off the girl, Izuku took one hand off the gun and fumbled with the doorknob, opening the door and stepping through while keeping her at gunpoint. He slid outside the apartment’s front door, then, satisfied that she made no move to follow, began to walk down the hallway.

About halfway to the stairs, he started to suffocate. It felt as though no matter how desperately he gasped for breath, there was no air to be found. He collapsed to one knee, too dizzy to properly stand, as he heard her footsteps behind him.

* * *

He found himself adrift in a vast void. In all directions stars could be seen, infinitely more clearly than he had ever seen them before. The Moon loomed huge below him, with no Earth in sight at all.

_ This has to be a dream. _

The girl’s voice rang out, seeming almost to echo. “Alright, let’s try this again.”

With great effort, Izuku flailed until he managed to somehow turn his body around to face her. For her part, she seemed amused by his awkward movements, drifting through the void as naturally as if she was walking.

“Allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Usami Sumireko, and I have spent my life seeking knowledge of the supernatural and occult. And you, Midoriya Izuku, are not fully human.”

“What is this? What do yo-”

She cut him off with a raised hand, shushing him “Stop. Before I answer any of your questions, I need to know your answer to one of mine.”

Seeing her pause, he nodded. She continued.

“You must not reveal anything you are about to be shown or told to anyone not in the know. Is that okay? Can you keep this a secret?”

Even knowing he was dreaming, Izuku hesitated briefly at the request. It felt as though it carried some immense weight, some great implications he was yet unaware of.

Realizing she was waiting for his response, he nodded again. _ Eh, it doesn’t matter anyways. This is just a dream. _

Sumireko grinned. “Excellent. So, as I said earlier, you’re not a full human. The myths and legends of Japan? True stories, if a little distorted over time, every last one. Youkai once walked the earth like you and I, and were creatures to be feared. The greatest among their number, beings like the Four Devas of the Mountain or the Astral Knight, were spoken of only in hushed whispers.”

The second one didn’t ring a bell, but he knew the Four Devas. His father had once recounted to him how, after Shuten-Doji’s story came to an end on Mt. Ooe, his four lieutenants had gone their separate ways and each carved a bloody swathe of vengeance across the countryside. "What changed?"

“Mankind lost its sense of wonder. For all their power, youkai have one major flaw to them. All supernatural beings do, really. They run on belief. Doesn’t particularly matter what flavor of belief that is - fear, respect, worship, even just knowing the stories and genuinely believing they’re true, all’s good. But without belief, a youkai starts to fade from existence unless they have some way to get around it. Which brings me back to your situation. You’re half-youkai, and because of that, you’re starting to fade away.”

He waved his hands wildly, as though her statement was a physical object to be deflected. The motion set him spinning in place as he floated there. "Y- You must be mistaken, surely? I've been quirkless my entire life with no sign of any powers, quirk or otherwise."

She just grinned. "Nope, yesterday's events confirmed it. Honestly, normally you probably wouldn't start showing your youkai heritage for another couple years - I was observing you because of a tip I got. If I had to guess, the near-death experience you had triggered it early."

Izuku grimaced, remembering the feeling of slime against skin, his lungs burning for air as he desperately tried to swim for freedom. "Triggered it?"

"Izuku, you were in that villain for five minutes without taking a breath. You didn't lose consciousness at any point, and you were still functional enough afterwards to grab All Might's leg and cling to it as you went for a brief flight. Unless you’re hiding some Quirk that lets you hold your breath for an unusually long time, only a youkai could’ve managed that, and _ definitely _ only a youkai would start to fade away from lack of belief afterwards."

Any response he had died in his throat. Even if she was off on the time he was in the sludge villain, he had to admit it was odd how lucid and energetic he had been when All Might rescued him. He had caught his breath easily then, far more easily than it had been later that day, when he had sprinted at the villain.

The silence hanging between them was shattered as a siren rang out through the void, heralding the appearance of a city. Shadowy, indistinct humanoids bustled to and fro in the morning light. The only clear human, aside from Sumireko and Izuku, was a young girl with short gray hair, looking around at the crowds with terror in her eyes.

With the appearance of the city, gravity was restored and Izuku dropped clumsily to the ground, stumbling but ultimately staying upright. He started towards the girl, who was on the verge of tears. “Wha-”

Sumireko cut Izuku off. “This area of the Dream World’s in use now. Looks like a nightmare of some kind, doesn’t matter. Come on, we shouldn’t interfere with someone else’s dream.”

The young girl looked into an alleyway featuring a distinctly out of place forest landscape as Sumireko floated off. Izuku glanced at the girl, who was now walking towards the alley, for a moment before hurrying off after the floating high schooler.

“Now, if youkai had simply gone extinct, none of this would be happening. You’d be an ordinary student living out a woefully mundane life in a, quite frankly, dreadfully dull world. But, youkai are clever creatures, and the leaders among them saw the way the wind was blowing.”

At some unseen prompting, the scenery of the dream shifted around them yet again, the skyscrapers and streets of a modern city fading away and being replaced by a vast forest.

“So, long ago, a bunch of youkai, realizing the world was starting to view them as nothing more than fairy tales, got together and created a separate existence they could call their own, with a population of humans who would give them enough belief that they could exist.”

She touched down on the ground next to a shimmering portal.

“They called their new land Gensokyo, and ever since, it has been a haven for the creatures of fantasy the world has no use for. After you.” She gestured to the portal. After a deep breath, Izuku stepped through.

He was awestruck by the sight that greeted him. A placid lake spread out before them, with several large stone pillars rising from the water. On the far bank, a well-maintained shrine stood proud and tall, and he could make out what appeared to be a few visitors chatting with a girl with bright green hair and a white and blue dress. Beyond that, there was what appeared to be a cable car station, and then a massive spread of lowlands and nearly untouched wilderness. On top of that, the air was crisp and clean to an extent Izuku had never even realized was possible - his breaths came easily and the simple act of taking a breath and holding it seemed almost invigorating.

He heard Sumireko step through behind him. “So from here we’ll take a cable car down to the village where you’ll be meeting with someone who can teach you to use your powers and give you a better rundown of what you should know going forward.”

“You’re not going to teach me, Miss Usami?”

“Nah, I’m all human and my fighting style’s based around my powers, which you probably won’t have. I’m here mainly to be your guide, since I’m one of the few people in Gensokyo who can freely move through the barrier. Besides, I need to check with some people about my fix for you, make sure it’s viable, you know?”

* * *

The trip down the mountain in the cable car was scenic, if uneventful. Sumireko spent the trip reading a newspaper she had picked up from a girl with large black wings at the station. Upon disembarking in a small village that seemed as though it had been plucked straight from the Edo period, she quickly led Izuku out of the village and towards a large Buddhist temple situated beyond the village’s farmland. She had at some point started ranting about the flaws of modern society, and Izuku had tuned her out in favor of taking in the scenery. 

Finally, they came to a small graveyard behind the temple, mostly empty of visitors. In one corner of the graveyard, a purple-haired girl whose outstretched arms and hat talisman marked her as a jiang-shi was talking to a gray-haired girl who was holding her hands up in front of her, apparently some manner of ghost. Sumireko led him to the back of the graveyard where an older woman was idly leaning on a grave and smoking a kiseru.

Sumireko nodded to the woman, gesturing to Izuku. “Here’s the kid, I’m going off to Eientei to have them double-check my theory.” She then turned to Izuku. “Just listen to what she tells you, I can guarantee that she knows her stuff, even if she can be a bit eccentric.” And with that, Sumireko took off again, flying off towards what appeared to be an enormous grove of bamboo.

Izuku shuffled awkwardly as he looked over the woman. She had long, straight brown hair ornamented by a leaf, and wore a green robe over her black kimono as well as a checkered scarf even though it was, in his opinion, honestly fairly warm. She packed another load of tobacco into her kiseru and took a long puff from it as she likewise examined him through round spectacles. “So, yer the Midoriya kid, eh? And you wanna be a hero, back in the Outside World.”

“I’m sorry, there must be some mistake - Miss Usami said that she wouldn’t be teaching me because she’s human and thus wouldn’t be able to help me with any powers I’d get from my heritage.”

The woman grinned. “I’ve picked up enough over my life to handle teaching a sprout like you the basics. I can tell just by looking over you - yer half tanuki. The tells are subtle, and most wouldn’t see them, but they’re there. I happen to dabble enough in the arts of disguise that I’ll be able to help with whatever your Ability is. But first, I need to make this clear to ya - staying in the Outside World is gonna be a huge risk. You mess up and lose that lifeline of yers before you get known, and yer dead. Deader than dead, even. Youkai being spiritual means you won’t leave a ghost. Knowing that, do you wanna stay in Gensokyo instead? Yer life would be a lot simpler.”

Izuku’s response came without hesitation. “All I’ve ever dreamed of is to be a hero. I knew from the start it’d be a dangerous path.”

The woman chuckled. “Yer aspirations are admirable, kid. Call me Kemuri, I’ll help you get a handle on your ability. Come with me, let’s find ya something to practice on.” She began to walk off towards the edge of the graveyard, where it bordered a large forest. Bending down, she scooped up a handful of leaves. 

“Leaves have long been the tool of choice for young tanuki, and for good reason. An inanimate object isn’t going to fight the transformation, and a leaf is a simple object without complex details to work with. On top of that they’re lightweight, small, and generally easy to find. Grab a leaf and just meditate on it. Feel like you want it to be something else, and go with your gut.” With a puff of smoke, the handful of leaves turned into golden coins. “An ability is part of yourself. Even though you’ve only just gotten it, you should feel it there, ready to be used and just waiting for you to call out to it.” She let the coins drop freely into the soil.

Holding a leaf between his fingers, Izuku concentrated. It was strange, now that he had been told what to try - Izuku had always been observant, he prided himself on his detailed note-taking with regards to heroics, but simply holding the leaf seemed to give him far more detail than he ever would’ve imagined possible. He was acutely aware of every bump, every vein, each bend of the midrib and every nibble an insect had given it. And yet, beyond that awareness, was a different feeling, as though he were holding something completely indescribable in its simplicity, a blank canvas which could hold anything. He focused on that canvas, infusing it with his vision - _ not a leaf. _

“Oh? Not bad for a first attempt.”

Kemuri flicked the leaf in his hand, sending fragments of green glass scattering through the air. “I’m guessin’ you focused on it not being a leaf? Created something that was as close to the original as possible without strictly being the original. Not a bad start” She gave an approving nod. “Now, keep working at it. Get a feel for your limits - big, small, complexity, that sort of stuff. You want to be comfortable enough that you can do this without thinking about it.”

* * *

Sumireko returned a few hours later, a large box floating behind her. She landed next to the pair, looking quite pleased with herself, and proudly announced, “My formulas are all correct - I even managed to track down the fox to get a fourth check - and I was able to get my hands on the last items I needed for your fix! It’s probably about time we got going.”

Izuku had made significantly less progress than she had. All he had to show for several hours of working on his ability was a scattering of glass leaves and his latest failure, a poor facsimile of a leaf made out of lime green felt. He had intended it to be a sock. Kemuri ruffled his hair. “Don’t look so glum, kid. I wouldn’t expect you to be a master from the start. Honestly, some of the tanuki here have been at it for decades and still sometimes forget to hide their ears or something. Keep working at it and show me what you’ve figured out the next time you visit me.”

Izuku looked up from the products of his repeated failure. “You mean you’ll keep training me?”

The woman grinned. “Don’t ask stupid questions, kid. If I was the sort who’d give up on a fledgling youkai I’d have dropped you after the third glass leaf. Now have a good day in the Outside World, and come back to this graveyard tomorrow.”

* * *

Izuku blinked awake, roused by the whistle of a boiling kettle in the apartment’s other room. He shuffled into the main room, still thinking about his dream.

_ Odd. Normally I forget what I dreamt as soon as I wake up. _

He chuckled to himself at the absurdity of it - wandering through someone else’s dream,visiting a temple graveyard to learn under an eccentric sorcerer, and discovering a power science said was impossible for him to have.

“Morning, Miss Usami.”

Sumireko didn’t even glance up at him, busy fiddling with an ornate necklace as she responded, “Morning, Izuku.” 

She had laid out a cup of instant ramen for him. It seemed like the final insult in an awful string of events. He had been attacked by a villain, his dreams were crushed by the number one hero in the flesh, he was scolded by heroes for trying to help, he developed some kind of life-threatening condition that left him stuck in an apartment for reasons he couldn’t understand, he had had an excellent dream that had left him feeling good about his future for once, only to wake up and be plunged back into the nightmare that was quirkless life, and finally, to top it all off, all he had to eat was something that probably cost less than two hundred yen and was about as appetizing as eating the coins it cost.

Tears fell from his cheeks as he grabbed the cup and began to eat. He just wanted to go home, to hug his mom, tell her he was sorry for worrying her, to write to his dad and get a smoke-scented letter that assured him everything would be okay and mentioned some folk hero who went through a similar experience. But more than anything, what he wanted in that moment, was his favorite comfort food: his mom’s home-made katsudon.

A burst of smoke engulfed his ramen, filling his vision and startling him into choking on his food. Coughing, he waved away the (strangely, completely scentless) cloud.

A bowl of katsudon, looking just like his mom’s cooking, sat on the table in front of him.

Sumireko was immediately at his shoulder. “Hey, look at that, you did it! Took you less than a day, too!”

Izuku stared at his new breakfast in disbelief. Slowly, he took a piece with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth. It tasted exactly like his mom’s cooking. Tears once more came to his eyes, but this time they were tears of joy. He turned his head to look at Sumireko.

“Last night - that wasn’t a dream, was it.” It was a statement rather than a question. He didn’t need confirmation. He was eating his proof.

“Uh, technically both yes and no? The metaphysics involved get a bit tricky.” She pressed an object into his hand. “Here’s your cure. Took me most of the morning to finish it up. Wear it at all times, if you get more than around fifteen meters from it you’ll probably die.”

He examined it closely. It was the amulet she had been working on when he came in, an ornate bronze disc studded with six purple spheres. Five of them formed the points of a star, surrounding the sixth, larger, one that rested in the center of the medallion. It was attached to a chain that appeared to be finely etched with runes.

“What is it?” He asked as he fastened it around his neck.

“Basically, I’ve rigged it up to leech belief from a number of occult sites in the world. There’s several locations that never lost that romance to them, you know? People still believe in things like the mummy’s curse. The thing is, though, that there’s actually nothing in those places, so most of the time the belief just builds up and sits there before dissipating. As long as you wear that amulet, you shouldn’t need to worry about belief. It’s just a stopgap measure, though, so you’ll want to figure out a way to get the belief you need if you’re truly set on staying in the Outside World here. Well, that or just grow powerful enough that lack of belief will just weaken you rather than end you.”

“So I’m free to go, then?”

Sumireko nodded. “Remember, wear that amulet at all times. Don’t take it off even if you’re going to sleep or bathe.”

Izuku smiled widely as he left the apartment, beginning his walk home.

* * *

"-and he sometimes wanders a little bit out of his normal route home, but only to watch hero fights! Afterwards he goes straight home. I can't think of anything he'd delay for if a hero fight wasn't taking place, and certainly nothing that would take him more than a day. He’s got an excellent sense of direction, he wouldn’t have gotten lost or anything."

Police Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa frowned ever so slightly as he jotted down notes on Midoriya Inko's testimony. He wasn't going into this case completely blind - his good friend Toshinori had asked him to, and he was always willing to lend the number one hero a hand - and Mrs. Midoriya's testimony reinforced the accounts he'd already gotten. His Quirk, Human Lie Detector, hadn’t pinged yet in his investigation, so nobody was lying. The problem was, all the testimony and eyewitness accounts pointed to the same, baffling, conclusion:

Within a two-minute window, a middle schooler with no Quirk had disappeared off a residential street without a single witness to the incident, and had been missing for the past forty-eight hours.

The last one to see Midoriya Izuku had been his classmate, Bakugo Katsuki, on his way home after being caught up in a villain attack. The next person to see the street Midoriya had last been sighted on was All Might himself, who found nothing but a discarded backpack. Nobody else had even been sighted close to the street in question.

Naomasa tucked his notebook into his coat pocket. “Thank you for providing your testimony, Mrs. Midoriya. I realize this must be a trying time for you. I’ll make sure to keep you updated every step of the investigation.”

He quickly ran through potential motives in his head as he walked away from the Midoriya household. The victim was quirkless, so quirk trafficking was out. The Sludge Villain was in prison and had no known associates, and it was too soon to be a retributive attack anyways. The Midoriyas lived in a two story house of their own - Tsukauchi made a mental note to check the family's background and income, to see if it could be someone going after his parents by way of their kid, or if there was a possibility a ransom demand would be incoming. 

Suddenly, a shout jolted him from his thoughts.

“MOM!”

Midoriya Inko sprinted past Naomasa with a speed that, in his opinion, would probably put most of the officers in his department to shame. She was met at the gate by a green-haired teenager.

_ Midoriya Izuku _, the detective recognized, recalling the numerous eyewitness descriptions he had gotten about the missing child. He smiled fondly at the reunion, happy that everything had worked out nicely, as the boy attempted to console his weeping mother.

“Mom, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. I meant to be home sooner, and I came back as soon as I could, I swear!”

Inko sobbed louder and hugged her son tighter.

“But- but look! Look what I figured out!”

Izuku squirmed out of his mother’s grip and dug through his backpack before retrieving a pencil and holding it up proudly, beaming. A puff of smoke engulfed it, before clearing away to reveal that he was now holding an unbroken pair of disposable chopsticks. His mother’s eyes widened in surprise as her tears stopped.

“You… you have a Quirk?”

Still beaming, he nodded. Inko shrieked with joy and embraced him again, laughing.

“You have a Quirk! Oh, I’m so happy for you!”

Naomasa coughed to get the pair’s attention. “Technically, I’m supposed to issue citations for unlicensed quirk usage. However, given the circumstances, I think I’ll ignore that part of my job for now.”

Inko “Oh, where are my manners? Izuku, this is Detective Tsukauchi. He was just helping me with the missing person case I filed on you when you arrived.”

The detective chuckled. “Thankfully my help didn’t turn out to be necessary. Now, am I correct to understand that you got your Quirk just recently?”

Izuku nodded. “Yes, that’s correct.”

Naomasa produced a form and pencil from within his coat. “Why don’t I help you register that? It’s a quick process and I’m already here. I’ll just need you to answer a few questions.”

Once again, the boy nodded. “Well, if it’s really no trouble…”

“Alright, first off: what can you do?”

“Um, it appears to let me transform objects I’m touching with my hands into different objects.”

“Don’t worry about the exact details, you can always file a quirk change request later if you discover that you were wrong about some things. Now, changing other things, that’d make it an Emitter type. And you said you manifested it yesterday…” He checked a few boxes on the form. “Can you tell me what time exactly?”

“I’m not sure of the exact time, but it was either late at night or very early in the morning.”

“Alright, that’s fine, a general timeframe is good enough. What were the circumstances of you gaining it? This is just a liability question, so we can waive responsibility for any accidental damages that may have been incurred when it first manifested.”

Izuku shook his head. “No, nothing got damaged. I can’t say where exactly I was at the time, other than that I was able to find my way home later. I just… got a gut feeling that I could do something, and my Quirk manifested, you know?”

_ Lie. _

Naomasa stiffened almost imperceptibly as his quirk pinged him. He forced himself to relax.

_ He’s lying about getting a quirk on his own. But why? _

“Was anyone nearby when you got your quirk?”

“No, nobody was with me at the time.”

_ Lie. _

Naomasa felt a lump in his throat. _ No damage done, but he got a quirk somehow and someone was with him when it happened. _ He couldn’t arrest the kid just because his quirk registered a false statement - lie detection and foresight quirks weren’t admissible evidence on their own, he needed hard evidence. Evidence he had no reasonable cause to try to get right now. He made a mental note to have someone look into the Midoriya family’s background as he put down the pen and tucked away the completed registration form.

“Alright, well, that’s all I need from you. You should get a receipt in the mail within a few days giving you the filing number for your registration. If you need to update it in the future, you’ll need that number so they can pull up your file.”

He tipped his hat to the reunited family before walking away from the doorstep, heart racing despite his calm exterior. His quirk didn’t lie - Izuku hadn’t spontaneously manifested a quirk, nor was he alone when he got his power. There was only one explanation he could think of, and if there was even the slightest possibility he was correct…

He dialed All Might’s number.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For an idea of what Izuku was turning the leaves into, look up the Glass Flowers at Harvard.


	3. Let's Live in a Lovely Cemetery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku's training continues, and his teacher realizes that he's gonna need a bit more training than just his ability usage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I continue to be blown away by the continued support for this fic, even though I'm currently stuck in training-and-exposition hell. Hopefully I can push through the last of it and get to the entry exam next chapter, I think I've got all the baseline stuff down now. Still some plot balls I intend to chuck into the air but those can be lobbed up whenever because they won't become immediately relevant.

The second night of training with Kemuri was significantly less stressful than the first. Izuku had a handle on transforming objects now and could reliably, if not quickly, change objects into new ones on command. After an hour of transformations, she slung an arm around his shoulder.

“Y’know, as a celebration, how ‘bout we go get a bite in the village? My treat.”

He scrunched his nose up. Although she hadn't been smoking her pipe, the smell of tobacco smoke still clung to her, mixing with a faint scent of alcohol on her breath.

“Don’t worry about wasting a little time,” she pressured him, “you’ve got an extra eight hours of training on everybody else thanks to being able to work on things in yer dreams, losing an hour or two won't hurt.”

_ Well, I am a bit hungry… _

Izuku nodded. “Do you know any places with good katsudon?”

* * *

After a brief walk into town, the pair finally arrived at a modest restaurant located next to a bookstore. They didn’t have to wait for a table - the only other person in the restaurant was a medicine seller in a samue and bamboo hat, who was apparently dropping off a delivery. Kemuri grabbed a seat near the wall, facing the door. An older man came by their table not long after they were seated and gave them cups of green tea.

“What’ll you be having?”

“Well, I’ll be havin’ a bowl of udon with… do you have any tempura crumbs?”

“I’m afraid we don't, ma’am.”

“Ah, darn. Then just a plain udon’s fine by me. And he’ll be having a bowl of katsudon. Your best rice, please,” she leaned towards him conspiratorially. “My son here just got his Ability, you see.”

Izuku choked on his drink, spraying tea everywhere.

The man politely ignored the outburst. “That so? Congratulations, then. Your food will be out as soon as it’s ready.”

As he departed for the kitchen, Izuku leaned over the table to angrily whisper at Kemuri.

“Your  _ son? _ ”

She laughed heartily at his flustered reaction. “Hey, they won’t charge me extra for the good stuff this way! It’s your first proper meal in Gensokyo, you should enjoy it. Took you to a more modern place, too, so it wouldn’t be too jarring.”

“Yeah, actually, it’s surprisingly familiar in here.” He glanced over at what appeared to be a large portrait of Crimson Riot in ukiyo-e style.

“The barrier’s not absolutely impenetrable, it intentionally allows stuff through. So you occasionally get cast-off junk passing through the barrier - most of that tends to end up in this one curiosity shop, Kourindou, out by the village outskirts - and sometimes other stuff pops up, too. The owner here likes hero stuff, always makes sure to buy it when it pops up. He apparently had that print specially commissioned from one of the artists in town based on a magazine cover he found.”

The owner returned with their food, setting the dishes on the table as he slid into their conversation. “The subject there is a famous hero in the Outside World, I’ve always enjoyed reading about his exploits.”

Izuku eagerly took the chance to converse with a fellow hero fan. “Crimson Riot’s a bit old-school but his views on heroics are among the best in the business! Have you read the interview where he speaks about his early career?”

The man’s face lit up. “You’re a fan of heroics too!? Do you know where I can get more stuff? Kourindou doesn’t stock hero merchandise very often.”

Izuku felt a spike of…  _ something _ from the man at this. It was difficult to describe, akin to the smell of freshly cooked katsudon perceived entirely through the strange sensation you get when you think someone’s watching you.

It made his mouth water.

“What’s that sensation?”

The man looked puzzled. “Sensation? I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

“It feels like smelling my favorite food, but with my mind, if that makes sense?”

“You’ve completely lost me, kid.”

Realization blossomed across Kemuri’s face and the woman started beaming like a parent who’d just heard their child’s first words.

“Izuku! Yer sensing his surprise!”

It was Izuku’s turn to be baffled. “I’m what?”

“Youkai gain strength through belief and emotion, remember? Every youkai gains power from fear - those who don’t end up getting called gods instead - but Tanuki also are strongly attuned to surprise. It’s why they have a reputation as being pranksters, a good trick can get you both fear  _ and _ surprise.”

The feeling the man was emanating shifted ever so slightly, becoming more analogous to the smell of a bowl of ramen from a high-end restaurant - not Izuku’s favorite food, but one he’d enjoy just as well, and equally filling. The feeling noticeably lessened after a moment as the man closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“I see. Well, congratulations on your second milestone, I suppose. I’ll need to excuse myself for a moment, the Motoori family next door usually orders lunch delivered around this time and they’re loyal customers, I always make sure to treat them right.”

Izuku watched as he hastily exited the shop, hurrying in the direction of the bookstore next door. He’d be lying if he said the man’s fear of him didn’t sting on some level.

“Am I really that scary?” He wondered aloud as he took a bite out of his katsudon. It was good quality, but not quite as good as his mother’s cooking.

Kemuri waved off his concerns. “Ah, don’t worry about it. People here tend to be a bit jumpy if a youkai just drops in out of the blue, but the village is generally a safe place and the villagers realize they don’t have to be too afraid. I’m sure he was just caught off-guard to realize his customer wasn’t human like he assumed. If you come back, clarify yer only half youkai, there’s a few of those in the village and it’ll put him more at ease.”

Seeing as nobody was around to scold her for smoking indoors, she packed some tobacco into her kiseru and began to smoke.

“More importantly, this is a perfect opportunity for you to try out something. All that surprise and fear is still hanging in the air like my smoke, see? Feed on it. It’s easy, way easier than using an ability. Just try to take hold of that sensation and tug.”

True to her words, it was easy. Izuku felt the lingering fear fade from the air as it suffused his body, filling him with warmth and energizing him, his senses noticeably sharpening. He took another bite of his katsudon. This time, it was the best he had tasted.

* * *

After discovering the sense-sharpening effect of feeding on surprise and fear, Izuku took to pulling pranks on people. He quickly found that he could lessen the effect on him to increase the duration, and adjust its strength on the fly - a discovery that meant that he could feed on surprise at school or on the way home and enjoy his mom’s cooking with enhanced taste without needing to bear the guilt of surprising or scaring his own mother.

Villain attacks became even more of a delight to watch than they already were. Inevitably, the sudden appearance of a villain would cause surprise, as well as a varying amount of fear depending on how dangerous the villain was. The earlier in the attack he found it, the better - once the heroes started showing up, the amount of fear in the air dropped off rapidly, and they usually brought no surprise with them, as it was an expected part of how society functioned. On more than one occasion, he found himself torn between his admiration for All Might and his frustration that the man was just so  _ good _ at putting people’s fears to rest.

A weaker will probably would’ve turned to villainy, but Izuku instead found it comforting that he could now literally sense fear. It meant he could easily know when people felt safe.

* * *

A week after he learned to feed on fear, Izuku frantically stumbled into the graveyard, apologizing repeatedly.

“Miss Kemuri, I’m here! I’m so sorry I’m late, there was an accident with an overturned cart in the village and I stopped to help them gather the stuff that had fallen off, which took longer than I thought it would.”

Kemuri wasn’t there. In fact, the only other person in the graveyard was the jiang shi, standing in her normal spot by a dense cluster of graves. For a split second, Izuku had the heart-breaking thought that she had abandoned him.

_ Wait. I’ve never showed up at a specific time, just generally whenever I get to sleep. She’s probably just wandered off at the moment. _

He approached the undead girl. Whoever had reanimated her clearly took great care of their minion - although her skin was pale, and clearly long dead, she showed no sign of any rot or decay. She wore a simple red cheongsam shirt with pink trim, and a black skirt with the same pink frills wrapped around it like a ribbon. A blue cap rested upon dark blue hair, bearing a star and the reanimation talisman one would expect from a jiang shi. The entire outfit was immaculate, as though it had just been cleaned that morning. She made no indication of even noticing his presence.

“Hey, um, hello?” 

Dark blue eyes continued to stare blankly into space, arms outstretched.

“I was wondering if you’ve seen my teacher today? I’m sure you’ve seen me with her before, we usually train in this graveyard?”

A faint breeze ruffled the corpse’s talisman, but the girl herself made no movements. Izuku watched a windblown leaf as it curled lazily through the air before flying off through a well-maintained stone passageway that had been concealed by the graves from a distance. Voices echoed up through the tunnel, too faint to quite make out what they were saying.

His curiosity piqued, he crept up to the mouth of the tunnel to try to listen carefully.

He didn’t have time to try to understand anything that was being said before a cold shin, stiff with rigor mortis, slammed into his midsection with enough force to launch him across the gravestones. He rolled a short distance before impact with another grave arrested his motion.

Blinking stars from his sight as he staggered to his feet, Izuku saw the graveyard’s resident jiang shi hopping towards his position with all the speed she could muster, bellowing “Intruder! Spy! Lady Seiga has commanded me to remove your kind!”

He would have found it almost comical, if she hadn’t been attacking him. As things stood, however, he had barely recovered from the first hit when she swatted him upside the head with an unbending arm before lunging for his throat, mouth wide and ready to bite.

Recovering faster from the arm swat, which had significantly less force behind it than the kick she had opened with, Izuku delivered a reasonable approximation of All Might’s Texas Smash to her stomach.

It would’ve been more impressive if he actually had All Might’s strength backing it up - without the number one hero’s raw, overwhelming strength, the move had a lot of wasted motion for very little return - but it did its intended job of shoving the zombie back enough that her teeth didn’t sink into his neck. He’d seen zombie movies before, and had no intention of discovering if real zombies could infect you with a bite. He frantically grasped for something with his right hand as she lunged again. Hand closing around a rock, he used his ability and shoved a steel bar into her mouth, forcing her head back as she bit down on it instead of his flesh.

It snapped like a breadstick.

He was now more sure than ever that he  _ really _ didn’t want to get bit by her.

Thankfully, she was temporarily occupied with chewing and swallowing the section of metal, and Izuku took the opportunity to put some distance between them. The moment she had gotten through the mouthful of steel, she made another one of her hopping lunges, leading with her all-devouring maw.

Ducking quickly to the side, he was just barely able to dodge as she took a chunk out of the gravestone behind him. He recognized a clear pattern in her attacks - she preferred to be in close, and made those large, barely controllable lunges to close any gaps that emerged. He could use that weakness.

She turned to make another lunge. This time, he was ready. As she launched herself at him, he quickly sidestepped, throwing a handful of dirt into her face as he did so. The jiang shi didn’t flinch, but had clearly been blinded - after chewing her latest mouthful (a wooden grave marker), she turned to try to spot her prey and apparently saw nothing, continuing to swivel her head around despite Izuku standing in plain sight. He let out a sigh of relief, trying to calm his pounding heart now that the threat was neutralized.

The zombie’s head immediately snapped to face the direction of the sound and she lunged yet again.

In a panicked, split-second decision, he created the first thing he could think of to keep something away: a long spear, the sort you would use to hunt a charging animal. The undead girl blindly impaled herself on it.

For a moment, there was near-silence in the graveyard, broken only by the sound of a slow drip of blood from the spear’s tip. He had landed a solid hit to her stomach, and the spear protruded a good two feet out of her back. A slow trickle of blood made its way past her lips.

Izuku stood transfixed, horrified at what he’d done. The undead girl’s arms wavered, then slowly lowered to hang at her sides. Dead eyes blinked once, then twice, clearing away the dirt he had blinded her with.

She stared at him for a moment, then looked down at the spear lodged in her torso. Floating balls of flame began to gather around the pair.

_ Hitodama, _ he thought,  _ the souls of the dead. _ It seemed that the underworld could tell that another would soon join their ranks.

Finally, the jiang shi broke her stillness. With slow, lurching movements, she staggered backwards, pulling herself off of the spear and leaving a gaping hole in her stomach. The spear fell from Izuku’s grip and clattered to the ground.

Still staring at him, she took a deep breath, inhaling the wayward souls. Her stomach began to knit itself back together; pale, dead flesh reconnecting and repairing itself.

She lunged at him again.

Impact with the ground shook Izuku from his daze. He desperately struggled against the cold limbs pinning him to the ground, trying to do something,  _ anything _ , to free himself and stop her from biting him.

A veritable wall of brown fur slammed into the jiang shi and knocked her away from him. As he staggered to his feet, he saw he had been saved by his teacher, who now had shoulder-length brown hair topped with the ears of a Tanuki. A bushy, brown-striped tail protruded from her robes, and was probably as large as the rest of her body. Wordlessly, she dumped the ash from her kiseru onto the ground, glaring at the prone undead.

The zombie girl didn’t have a chance. The moment she managed to rise to her feet, Izuku’s protector scattered a handful of leaves in the air and snapped her fingers, prompting the leaves to erupt into a mass of smoke. Silhouettes of birds streaked out of the smokescreen to barrage the jiang shi, distracting her at the same moment that a veritable horde of tanuki poured out of the nearby woods and seized her limbs, dragging her away.

The woman he had known as Kemuri whirled on Izuku. “What the hell were you thinkin’, you reckless idiot! The moment I take my eyes off you you get it into yer fool head to go fight the Taoists’ guard dog!? Do you have any idea how easily you could have been killed?”

Seeing that he was on the verge of tears from her outburst, her expression softened.

“Look, I’m not mad at you. Just- just worried, yeah? I’ve only taught you transformation stuff so far, yer just not  _ ready _ to get in a proper scrap yet. And to almost lose you because I didn’t train you enough…”

She let out a breath.

“No training today. Visit the village and take it easy.”

* * *

When Izuku arrived at the graveyard the next day, his teacher was still in her tanuki form, smoking her kiseru and reclining on her tail as she floated in the air in a casual display of magical power. She had changed her outfit, and now wore a simple ecru shirt and a red-gray skirt with wavelike patterns along the bottom. A jar of sake and a booklet of what appeared to be promissory notes hung from her hip.

She addressed him as he approached.

“So we should probably talk about yesterday, yeah? First up, the obvious: I’m not actually human, and I gave you a fake name when we first met. Name’s Futatsuiwa Mamizou, and I’m the boss of Gensokyo’s tanuki. If you don’t want to learn from me after this deception, you can walk away now.”

Izuku waved his hands to dismiss her concerns. “It’s not a problem, really, I trust you! If you wanted to harm me you would’ve just needed to stand back yesterday, and besides that you’ve had plenty of opportunities during our training.”

_ Besides, _ he thought to himself,  _ this isn’t my first time discovering someone I look up to is hiding their true form. _

A faint smile came to her face as she continued.

“Yesterday showed me that yer not ready for a combat scenario. My fault, really. I figured that, bein’ part Tanuki, teaching you tricks and transformations would suffice, and that I’d get to combat techniques later. But from your fight with little ol’ Yoshika, and the fact that it seems like retreat was never an option in your mind, I see I was wrong. You need hand-to-hand training, and you need it  _ now _ .”

She exhaled, pipe smoke drifting through the early summer air, and pointed to something behind him.

“So I swallowed my pride, called in some favors, and got you a combat teacher.”

Izuku turned to look back up the path to the temple. Approaching was an odd pair of a man and a woman. The woman wore a fairly simple white and black dress and a necklace of green prayer beads. Her long, wavy hair had a strange color, starting as purple but fading to a light brown as it reached her back. She was dwarfed by the man next to her, a veritable wall of muscle in a martial artist's gi who looked like he could give Endeavor a run for his money in an arm wrestling competition. He peered down at Izuku, as though mentally evaluating the boy's potential.

The woman spoke up. “Ah, you must be little Midoriya. I am Hijiri Byakuren, a humble disciple of the eightfold path and head priest of the Myouren Temple. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Izuku bowed politely at Byakuren’s introduction, “Ah, yes, I’m Midoriya Izuku, and it’s nice to meet you too! I apologize that we’ve been using your graveyard this whole time, I hope it’s okay and if I need to go elsewhere to practice combat I completely under-”

Byakuren waved off his concerns as the muscular behemoth brushed roughly past him to stand at Mamizou’s side. “Oh, it’s no problem at all, really. I will want you to learn hand-to-hand in a different location, but that’s simply because it’s more convenient for me if we train in the temple’s yard. We already use it for duels from time to time.”

He did a double-take, looking back and forth between the obvious martial artist and the monk. “Huh? You mean you’ll be the one training me?”

The man finally broke his silence, doubling over as booming peals of laughter wracked his body. Finally catching his breath, he spoke with a low, rumbling voice that seemed to reverberate in Izuku’s bones. “Your kid needs more training, Mamizou! What have you even been doing with him for this past week if he’s still trusting what his eyes tell him?”

The tanuki grinned and playfully swatted the man with her kiseru, “Yer ability’s downright cheatin’ fer deception, Nue, and you know it!”

In the space of an eyeblink, the muscular man transformed before Izuku’s eyes. One second he was standing there, and the next, a large inhuman beast was in his place. It was a dreadful chimera, a being with the head of a monkey, the torso of a tanuki, and the legs of a tiger. Where a tail would normally be, a snake thrashed about, hissing at anything that got close. Izuku recognized the monster instantly: the Nue, the monster which had menaced the emperor and was slain by the archer Yorimasa. An arrow was still lodged in its side, blood matting the fur as it flowed from the wound. He couldn’t drag his eyes away from the grievous injury.

The beast spoke, its voice now a hissing rasp that seemed to come from Izuku’s mind rather than the creature’s mouth.

“I know that look, human. Of course I don’t still have that archer’s arrow in me, I had that thing removed centuries ago.”

Another blink of the eye and the arrow was gone, the surrounding where the wound had been immaculate and untouched.

Kemuri slung an arm around the beast, grinning. “This here’s Houjuu Nue, a friend of mine from the good ol’ days and none other than  _ the _ very same being shot by Yorimasa. Her ability lets her hide the true form of anything - whatever you’re seeing is what you  _ think _ she is, rather than what she actually looks like.”

Nue groaned, a strange sound to hear from the chimeric beast. “Why do you always have to bring up that story, Mamizou?”

“Because it’s hilarious, that’s why! You got super drunk and buzzed the imperial palace every night for like a week straight and he shot you right in the ass when you were pulling loop-the-loops over the garden!”

“Oh, like you’re one to talk about embarrassing incidents! Do I need to bring up the stomachache thing in front of the kid?”

“That was one time and it wasn’t due to me pulling the same trick for a week straight like I wouldn’t get caught!”

Byakuren smiled gently at Izuku as the pair of tricksters squabbled. “They can go on like this for a while when they start reminiscing about the past. Let’s go around to the front of the temple so we can get started.”

He nodded and followed her, Mamizou and Nue’s friendly bickering fading into the distance. As they walked, Byakuren continued.

“I must say, I was quite pleased by your response to Mamizou revealing her youkai nature to you. I’ve made it my life’s work to promote coexistence between humans and youkai, and would have refused you then and there if you had had a poor reaction. Truthfully, I had some concerns when she first approached me asking me to train you in hand-to-hand, as she had previously expressed unease to me over whether you’d be afraid of her if her true form were to be revealed to you. Youkai tend to be the villains in old myths, after all. I’m glad you didn’t let that stop you from seeing her for the person she is.”

“Back home we have a number of Pro Heroes who look like stereotypical villains, or quirks that are viewed as ‘villainous’. I feel like you should never judge someone just because of their power.”

Byakuren smiled at him. “I’m glad to hear that my concerns were misplaced. You’d fit in well at the temple, if you ever chose to stay..”

Izuku’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand why she gave me a fake name, though.”

“Mamizou’s well-known despite being a relatively new arrival to Gensokyo. When she migrated here from the Outside World a few years back she rapidly built up her power base, gathering the tanuki under her banner and establishing herself into the politicking of the various youkai groups. I imagine she was worried that, if she gave you her true name, you’d find out she was a youkai through talking with someone else, or if you went into the village with her and referred to her by name.”

Byakuren turned towards him as they arrived at the temple’s yard. “Now, Mamizou told me about your ability, and I have a fairly good idea on how to incorporate that into your fighting style. Am I correct in understanding that contact with just one or two fingers is sufficient to allow you to transform things?”

Thinking back, Izuku recalled his mostly-unsuccessful attempts at using his power on his first day in Gensokyo. “Yes, but when I’ve only used two fingers I haven’t had much luck with the transformations - I kept turning leaves to glass instead of turning them into completely different objects.”

“That’s excellent, it’s more than enough for it to be usable in the manner I’m thinking. Now, what I think will work best for you is to use open-handed strikes, so that you can use your ability to weaken any armor your target might have - from what you said, changing the material of an object is easy enough for you to do with few points of contact.”

_ Open-handed strikes so I can use my power at the same time as I strike, huh? Certainly, it seems like a better plan then my initial idea of mixing grappling into my attack pattern - I was hung up on the prevalence of quirks that require contact with all five fingers to activate, but my ability doesn’t actually have that limitation, even if using five fingers makes it easier. This isn’t without risks, though - if I am slow to transform objects then using my fingers to perform a strike can easily result in my breaking them, and if I lose the use of my hand then I won’t be able to use my power at all. I could possibly mitigate this by- _

Byakuren interrupted his thoughts. “Naturally, you’ll want to train more with Mamizou so you can use your ability at the speed required. As for the risk of breaking your fingers, I specialize in physical enhancement magic, and can try to teach you similar techniques you’ll be able to use gathered fear for.”

Apparently, he had been mumbling again.

At Byakuren’s prompting, a girl in a white dress and blue headdress carried over a stack of wooden boards. “Thank you, Ichirin. Now, at first we should practice with palm strikes so you don’t risk your fingers. The goal is to master enhancement to the point that the only thing you feel when breaking the boards is the physical resistance of the board itself, no pain or scratches from the splintering wood. The process of enhancement itself is fairly simple, considering you’ve already been performing sense enhancement using fear. Instead of focusing on your senses, you want to pour the energy into your limb as you perform the strike, using it to reinforce your body so you can put more strength into the blow than normal.”

Izuku did as she instructed to the best of his ability, striking the board with all of his strength. It splintered messily, leaving jagged cuts along his arm.

Byakuren called out to a girl sweeping the courtyard, “Kyouko, could you make a quick run to Eientei to get some medical supplies?”

* * *

It took Izuku another week to figure out how to properly enhance his physical capabilities. Bakugo’s daily torments were, as it turned out, an invaluable aid to this, giving him the opportunity to work on his defense against harsher blows than his supernatural teachers were willing to throw at him. The explosive blond, for his part, was completely infuriated by his favored victim’s newfound resilience.

Two weeks after that, he was finally capable of altering the material of an object with a touch. He couldn’t change large amounts of material - the speed he needed to work in order to use it in conjunction with his attacks limited him to only changing material within an inch or so of the contact site - but it was sufficient to allow him to bypass any physical obstacle.

And finally, after one more week, one full month after he started training under Byakuren, he was able to put all the pieces together.

Izuku looked at the tree trunk he had been practicing on with no small sense of satisfaction. A fresh hole adorned its center, the edges of which were formed of soft, wet clay. He examined his arm carefully. Not a single scratch marred his skin.

“Nicely done,” Byakuren said as she examined the fruit of his labor. “Do ten more of those strikes with each hand. If you don’t successfully put a hole in your target, or if you sustain an injury, restart the count for that arm.”

Izuku nodded confidently at the instructions. “And after that?”

“If you can do that, I’d say you’re ready for sparring.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost named this chapter Rigid Paradise, but decided eventually that the brief scuffle with Yoshika wasn't enough to warrant using a boss theme for the chapter name, especially since I have Mamizou come in to stomp her.
> 
> Speaking of Yoshika, she's actually terrifying in the right circumstances - she doesn't feel pain or fatigue, she can use the full strength of a human that's normally locked behind needing adrenaline, and her ability lets her eat anything. Her Ten Desires boss fight establishes she can heal herself by eating vulgar spirits, so you've got a close combat monster with built-in sustain whose only real weakness in close quarters is that she's slow. This doesn't come up in the games because she runs into the same issue that Meiling does (bad in a danmaku battle), but since Izuku hasn't learned projectile attacks...
> 
> Sorry, Yoshika, I used you to provide a reason for Izuku to learn to fight.
> 
> The Udon-with-tempura-crumbs dish that Mamizou wanted at the restaurant is Tanuki Udon. I didn't use its name directly there because of a 50/50 mix to not make it absolutely blatantly obvious she was really a Tanuki (at least, for people reading this who may be unfamiliar with Touhou characters - if there's someone like that out there, hi! I appreciate you giving this a shot.) and because I figured that the real-world thing of naming dishes after types of Youkai (see also: Kitsune Udon, Kappa Maki) might have a bit less appeal to it when you live somewhere where it's a very real possibility that if you go down to the river carelessly a Kappa's gonna attack you. 
> 
> Nue's ability is really fun to think about, thanks to the whole "you see what you think it is" aspect of it. Will Izuku ever learn her true form? Probably not, she hates it when people see it.


	4. Believe in Possibilities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku takes the entrance exam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I broke 500 hits! Honestly, when I started writing this I felt that I'd be happy with even just five people who liked it, so I'm still astounded this is getting a good reception as it is.
> 
> I didn't really think that there was too much more I needed to outright say in Izuku's training, so there's a bit of a timeskip up to the exam date.

Dense fog surrounded Izuku, hiding the familiar features of the temple yard as he shifted warily, trying to detect any sign of where the next attack would be coming from. The fog made no move to betray its master, drifting lazily in the air completely heedless of any wind. Sound was no help either - someone had gotten into a shouting match with the temple’s yamabiko, who was merrily echoing everything yelled her way with all the volume she could muster, drowning out any noises that might have emanated from the mass of fog. Scent likewise was useless, as the whole thing smelled strongly of sake.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he sensed a sudden shift in the fog behind him. Desperately, he flung himself forward as a plume of the dense substance reared up and speared down on the spot where he had been standing, crushing the stones of the yard’s flooring into dust. Rolling to his feet as quickly as he could to keep himself in a good stance, he ducked to the side to avoid a second jab from the fog.

Undeterred, the roiling mass continued its assault. Focusing completely on defense, Izuku deflected at least a dozen hits from all sides before one finally slipped through his guard, a heavy strike to the back that sent him sprawling to the floor.

The fog gathered into one spot, becoming denser and denser before it finally solidified into the form of a short girl with long orange hair and two enormous horns protruding from her head, wearing a white and blue dress with torn-off sleeves. A total of three chains dangled from her wrists and belt, each attached to a weight in the shape of a cube, a sphere, and a pyramid. She uncorked a purple sake gourd and drank deeply from it before speaking.

“Ah, not bad, not bad! You blocked a few more hits than yesterday. I might have to up the speed or power soon.”

Izuku chuckled at her as he set about using his ability to repair the damage to the courtyard’s flagstones. “Miss Ibuki, if you up the power of your hits I won’t be able to block them at all!”

She laughed off his objection. “Then just get better at blocking!”

Once Izuku had started sparring matches as part of his combat training, news had spread rapidly throughout Gensokyo’s close combat enthusiasts, who had soon mobilized and formed a fight club at the Myouren Temple. Byakuren had allowed this on the grounds that they assist in Izuku’s training in any way they were able. Suika, one of the Four Devas of the Mountain and unofficial ruler of a tenth of heaven, was actually banned from participation in the fights since a particularly rowdy battle between her and a hell raven had seen the entirety of the temple yard destroyed in a cataclysm of magma and fire, but she still hung around to watch the fights and was happy to help Izuku learn to defend against unseen foes.

Izuku walked over to Mamizou, who was sitting on the steps leading up to the temple entrance next to an ominous dark cloud that he assumed must be Nue. She was idly packing tobacco into her kiseru as he took a seat, watching Byakuren face off against a white-haired girl with red pants and a white shirt. Izuku couldn’t remember her name, she was a fairly rare sight at the matches.

Mamizou spoke up as Byakuren’s opponent lit herself on fire with a fingersnap. “Today’s the big day at last, huh, Izuku? Those months just blew by in an instant.”

“I just hope I’m prepared. I know you guys have been doing your best to train me but I still haven’t taken any wins in sparring.”

Nue laughed, an extremely irritating noise with the way his mind was currently parsing her - it echoed and had a touch of reverb to it, creating a veritable cacophony after mere moments. “You shouldn’t judge your readiness by if you can take a win against the battle maniacs we’ve got here, some of them are literally the stuff of legends. Mamizou was in the Outside World as recently as three years ago, and from what she’s told me I don’t think many of those so-called ‘Heroes’ out there could take home a win here either.”

She paused. Izuku assumed that if he could see her she’d be putting a hand to her chin in contemplation as she continued, “Actually, maybe against Ichirin? I don’t think she can do much on her own if you get past that nyuudou bodyguard of hers.”

Mamizou interjected, “Also, you got that win against Koishi because she got bored with the fight and forfeited by wandering off.”

Izuku didn’t remember fighting anyone by that name, and he  _ definitely _ would’ve remembered getting a win, even one by forfeit.

She continued, ignoring his bafflement. “Point is, you shouldn’t sell yerself short. I settled down in Japan for a while before I took to wandering the world, and I saw Heroes in basically every corner of the globe, some better than others. Yer definitely better than the real bottom tier guys, and you haven’t even gotten official hero training yet! You’ll do fine in those entry exams.” She raised an eyebrow as Byakuren delivered a devastating kick to her opponent’s torso. Leaning over to Nue, she asked, “How many of Mokou’s ribs do you think just cracked there?”

“Oh, at least four, easy. Probably lost a lung too. Definitely gonna need to renew herself, but she can probably tough it out for the rest of the round without slowing down if she’s in a stubborn mood.”

Mamizou turned back to Izuku. “Look, no matter what happens when you take that entry exam, I’ll be proud of you, and you’ll always be welcome here.”

She leaned back, blowing tobacco smoke into the air before continuing. 

“Don’t waste any brainpower worrying about how you’ll do. Just remember: Yorimasa was able to be a hero without any divine blessings or magic. If he could do it, you definitely can.”

Everything suddenly clicked for Izuku.

He knew his father was a Tanuki, and a well-connected one at that - Izuku would have ceased to be on his first day with his powers if Sumireko hadn’t been told to watch him. Sumireko had also been the one to introduce him to Mamizou, so there was a definite connection there. 

To his knowledge, very few youkai in Gensokyo were able to cross over to the Outside World, but both Nue and Byakuren had indicated that Mamizou had been there until very recently and Mamizou herself claimed to have settled in Japan for a while before wandering the globe.

Byakuren had said that Mamizou had worried about how Izuku would view her if he knew she was a youkai, but this concern only extended to him - after being revealed she had made no efforts to disguise herself in a similar manner for the benefit of human visitors to the temple, hanging around her usual haunt in the graveyard in her true form without a care in the world.

Mamizou also showed far more concern about his safety than that of her own tanuki underlings - when she had come to his rescue she had used them as a living wave against the jiang shi without a second thought.

As a habitual smoker, the smell of tobacco smoke was ever-present around Mamizou, just as Hisashi’s letters always smelled of smoke.

Mamizou was friends with the same being shot by Yorimasa, found that event funny, and enjoyed bringing up the incident whenever she could.

Mamizou could shapeshift.

Izuku shot awake.

* * *

Nue poked Mamizou with her trident as Izuku vanished abruptly. “Looks like your kid finally figured it out. Honestly thought it would’ve been sooner.”

The elder tanuki chuckled. “I could’ve told him outright, but a puzzle is always more rewarding when you figure it out for yerself.”

“If you say so. I’ve always been one for making sure the truth never gets out, myself.” She put her trident down and leaned back on the stairs, folding her arms behind her short black hair. She squirmed a little bit to get into a comfortable position - always tricky when you have asymmetrical wings. After a bit of fiddling she managed to slide her red, sickle-like right wings into a position where they were resting on the steps instead of digging into her back, and the blue tendrils that formed her left wings were able to hang free without being crushed against the stone. “You really do care about him, huh?”

Mamizou took a swig from her sake jar. “‘Course I do, Nue, don’t be stupid. I didn’t nearly kill myself roaming far from my belief base to set up an income stream for no reason.”

“I still think that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen you do,” Nue said, lazily reaching an arm up to use her ability on a passing cloud. An ethereal snake flew off into the sky, and a few moments later the cloud’s form was concealed. She snickered to herself as she sensed a marked uptick in fear and confusion from the human population. “Regardless, don’t forget you’re the boss of the tanuki around here now. You can’t just leave them hanging.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. They’re my underlings, I have a responsibility to them, just as I have a responsibility to support Inko and Izuku. Now that I’ve recovered, I just have one more thing I need to juggle.”

Mamizou grinned at Nue.

“By the way, I bet you a week of meals from that one soba place in Former Hell that someone shows up within the hour to beat the crap out of you for that cloud stunt just now.”

Nue grinned back. “You’re on.”

* * *

Izuku stood before the gates of UA High School, staring up at the school’s imposing “H”-shaped silhouette. Mamizou’s reveal had what he assumed was the intended effect on him - rather than spending his morning worrying about the upcoming test, he had instead been focusing on the fact that his teacher and his father were apparently one and the same. He almost missed his stop on the way in to UA, only realizing he was there because a gray-haired girl had bumped him as she got off the train, jarring him from his thoughts.

He shook his head in a futile attempt to drive out any lingering worries. Refocusing on the upcoming test as best he could, he strode confidently through UA’s front gate. He made it about three steps before someone slammed into him, causing him to stumble.

“Out of my fucking way, worthless Deku,” growled Bakugou's unmistakable voice as the explosive blond shoved past.

It was more of an inconvenience than anything else, really - it wasn’t like a stumble, no matter how clumsy, was going to actually do anything to injure him now that he’d grown into his half-youkai nature. He regularly practiced with someone who could crack stone even when holding back, after all. That said, it was taking a while for him to hit the ground. He opened his eyes to find that he was floating.

“I’m sorry for using my Quirk on you without permission,” a girl’s voice called out, “But I thought it’d be a bad omen if you fell right before such an important test.”

As she pressed her fingertips together, gravity returned, and Izuku dropped to the ground, landing on his feet.

Now on the ground again, Izuku looked over the girl who had saved him. Brown hair styled into a bob cut framed a roundish face with large, brown eyes, and she wore a dark red jacket and pink scarf to protect against the early morning chill. He noticed small pads, vaguely reminiscent of the paws of a dog or cat, at the tips of her fingers - presumably, her quirk was touch-activated.

She huffed. “Honestly, the nerve of that guy, shoving his way through with no concern for others! Well, I’ve got to go find my seat, good luck on the entrance exam!”

_ Well, she’s certainly in a hurry, _ Izuku thought as he watched her rush off.

* * *

The written portion of the exam went by without issue. Training in his dreams meant Izuku enjoyed the luxury of not having to sacrifice study time, and he reflected with no small amount of satisfaction that he was probably the single best-prepared individual in the room of test-takers. Finishing with plenty of time to spare, he made his way over to the lecture hall where the hopeful entrants would be briefed on the practical portion of the exam.

As he watched students trickle in, he noticed that they tended to be wearing the same school uniforms as they sat in their assigned seats.  _ They're probably seating us by school, which means that I should be next to… _

“What are you fucking doing here, Deku?," hissed Bakugou. "You and I both know that you're just wasting everyone's time.”

Izuku didn’t dignify Bakugou’s bullying with a response, instead choosing to focus on Present Mic as the hero strode up the podium, clad in his trademark leather jacket and sunglasses. No microphone was present at the podium - the Voice Hero didn’t need one.

“LEMME GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO ALL YOU LISTENERS HERE TODAY! EVERYBODY SAY HEEEEEEY!”

His shout was met with total silence from the assembled audience. Undeterred, he continued.

“Alright, pay close attention now, little listeners! You’ll have ten minutes to show your stuff at your assigned replica districts!”

In his seat next to Izuku, Bakugou grumbled, “Tch. I guess they don’t want friends or classmates working together. And I was looking forward to crushing you, too.”

“There will be three types of Faux Villain robot for you to take down, each with a different point value based on their difficulty! Your goal is to use any tools at your disposal to rack up as high a score as you can!”

_ So the key to this test is efficiency and initiative, _ Izuku thought.  _ Raw strength is meaningless if you can’t act fast enough to get to a Faux Villain in time, or if you spend too much time on smaller groups or groups of low-value targets. This would naturally give an advantage to entrants with quirks suited to area attacks or mobility. _

“And, needless to say, don’t even think about directly attacking or otherwise interfering with your fellow applicants! Stepping on others to get ahead won’t cut it in the heroics industry!”

_ There’s plenty of heroes out there without quirks that specialize in raw offense, so there has to be some sort of other trick to the test - Midnight’s an alumni, and her quirk wouldn’t be usable against robots, so she’d effectively be going in quirkless. Perhaps some sort of off switch, to allow perceptive and agile applicants to subdue the villains and earn points without needing raw power? _

A new voice called out, interrupting the hero’s ongoing presentation. “Excuse me!”

The speaker was a broad-shouldered, muscled young man in a suit with neatly-parted dark blue hair. He adjusted his glasses before continuing, holding up the informational pamphlet as he spoke. “You have listed three types of Faux Villain, but the handout we were provided with clearly lists four types! Such an amateur error is not befitting of a school of UA’s caliber!”

“Furthermore,” he continued, turning on the spot to point a finger at Izuku, “You there, with the curly green hair! You’ve been muttering the entire time, being a nuisance to your fellow test-takers! If you’re not going to take this seriously, then you should leave at once!”

Izuku shrank down in his seat at being called out for muttering, offering a sheepish apology as he did so.

Present Mic grinned and continued, “Thank you for speaking up, examinee 7111! That gives me the perfect lead-in to the final aspect of the test! The final type of villain is worth zero points! Think of them like a Thwomp in a Mario game, they’re technically beatable but won’t give you anything for doing so, so it’s better to avoid them! There’s one in every testing area!”

Satisfied with this answer, the boy bowed deeply, shouting out “I see! I apologize for my rudeness in presuming that your statement had been made in error!”

“Well, that’s about enough from me! I’ll leave you with a quote from the great general Napoleon Bonaparte: You become strong by defying defeat and turning loss and failure into success! Or, to put it another way: true heroism is overcoming life’s hardships!”

The presentation finished, the gathered applicants filed out of the assembly hall to make their way to their assigned testing areas.

* * *

Izuku looked over the gathered crowd at his assigned testing area as they chattered about the upcoming trial. It made for a diverse sight - the various mutation quirks dotted throughout the crowd gave many of the prospective students extremely distinctive looks. Just at a glance, he could see a huge kid whose arms were actually several tentacles connected by webbing, someone with arms so long they were touching the ground, and someone with what appeared to be pistons of some kind extending from their elbows.

He spotted the brown-haired girl who had stopped his fall in front of the school standing apart from the main group. She had her eyes closed as she took deep, slow breaths, apparently trying to calm herself before the test started.

_ I should see if I can help with her nervousness, _ he thought, and started to walk over to her.

A hand grasped his shoulder before he got far. “You.”

He turned to see it was the same boy who had called him out in the auditorium.

“What are you up to? Are you trying to disrupt other test-takers’ concentration? Such an underhanded tactic is unbefitting of a prospective heroics student.”

“I just- she seemed nervous, so I wanted to see if I could help her calm down.”

“If she’s trying to focus, then she doesn’t need other people coming in to make it harder for her. You should think about your actions more carefully before you-”

Present Mic’s voice rang out across the area from a high tower: “AAAAND START!!!”

Izuku immediately rushed through the gate into the city, previous conversation forgotten as he focused entirely on hunting the villain robots. He vaguely registered Present Mic continuing to speak, and felt a wave of surprise roll over him as the applicants realized the test had begun. He gathered it for reinforcing his arms - he was plenty fast enough already.

_ Thank you, UA High, for having a sudden start to your test to take entrants by surprise. And thank you, Nue, for only giving “Start!” as a warning before tackling me as part of sparring. _

Coming to the first group of robots - a cluster of 3-pointers - he leapt into the middle of them, letting the gathered surprise flow into his arms. Hands flat, he delivered a spear hand strike to the nearest 3-pointer’s main body, tearing easily through tin foil that had once been armor sheeting, grasped a handful of the wiring inside, and yanked. As the robot’s husk collapsed, he whirled and crushed another one’s head with a chop before sidestepping a rocket from a third. Grabbing the third’s head, he tore it free of the body and turned it into a spear before hurling it into a fourth one’s rocket pods, setting off a chain reaction of explosions that destroyed the machine.

Before he could get to the fifth one, a beam of light tore through it, downing it. Looking to the source, he saw a blond boy wearing a belt, which had a trail of smoke coming from a lens in its center. 

“Merci for the distraction, my friend! I would stick around and chat, but, alas, time is short!”

* * *

The observation room was a buzz of activity as All Might walked in. Looking around, the number one hero could see nearly every member of the UA Faculty manning various observation stations, doing their best to keep up with the frenzied applicants as they destroyed every robot they could get their hands on. 

The strange animal that was UA’s Principal Nezu perked up as the hero entered. “Ah, All Might! Glad you could make it. Please, take a seat wherever you’d like, and feel free to observe whichever applicant you want.”

All Might obliged, grabbing a free observation station next to Eraserhead. He could faintly hear the bedraggled underground hero grumbling under his breath that it was “irrational to judge so many students and send out application letters within a week.” The console was currently displaying camera feeds of a short student throwing sticky spheres from his head to immobilize the villain robots. After some fiddling with the buttons on the side, he was able to get a search box to pop up.

He typed in the name of the first student he wanted to check on, and pulled up their view.

Nezu was suddenly at his shoulder. “Ah, checking on Midoriya, I see.”

The green-haired applicant was currently tearing through a group of eight 2-pointers with vicious efficiency, severing robotic limbs and yanking circuitry in a whirlwind of motion. All Might noted Midoriya’s preference for open-handed strikes - something that required extensive training due to the significant risk of self-injury if performed wrong.

“Yes, he’s really quite proficient with that quirk of his, despite having had it for less than a year.” Nezu continued. “He seems to be using it to weaken the armor plating as he strikes, effectively bypassing the robots’ defences. I imagine there’ll be some complaints from Majima about that, actually - he won’t be happy to find that some of the steel that would normally be perfectly salvageable has turned into what appears to be tin foil.”

His prey depleted, Midoriya dashed off to find another group of victims. All Might’s eyebrows raised at the kid’s speed - it wasn’t anything that would compete with a dedicated speed enhancement quirk, but he’d fought villains who had more all-around enhancements with less speed than that. On top of that, his risky combat techniques hadn’t led to a single scratch on him in the six minutes the exam had been going so far.

Not taking his eyes off the viewport, he cleared his throat. “What  _ is _ young Midoriya’s quirk, by the way?”

He knew perfectly well what it was registered as.

“It’s registered as ‘Object Transformation’,” Nezu replied, “an emitter quirk that lets him change objects he’s touching. The more fingers he has on an object, the more easily he can transform it, but he’s apparently already proficient enough with it to change something’s material with only the briefest contact.”

_ So nothing that would account for why he’s completely unharmed, or his physical prowess. _

“Now then,” the principal continued, “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, it’s about time the Arena Traps were activated.”

* * *

The sound of groaning metal and crumbling stone echoed through the streets of the replica city as an enormous robot, easily at least six stories in height, tore its way out from the ground. Fear filled the air in no time at all as panic swept through the applicants. As fleeing students rushed past Izuku, he heard a girl’s voice cry out in pain.

The girl he had met outside the school had fallen directly in the path of the zero pointer, her leg pinned under a piece of rubble.

Without a second thought, Izuku sprang into action, rushing to her aid. Grabbing the chunk of stone, he heaved it off her leg and turned it into a crutch, offering it to her.

“Can you stand?”

She rose unsteadily to her feet, wincing as she put weight on the injured leg. Taking the crutch, she smiled at him. “Yeah, I should be able to. Thanks for the save.”

The tremendous mech was nearly upon them now - fleeing was no longer an option, not with her injury. Gathering the massed fear around him like a cloak, Izuku let it flow through his entire body, empowering him as the mech’s foot came down.

The strain was immense. He could  _ feel _ himself burning through the fear as he tried to keep the robot’s massive bulk from crushing the two of them. He’d last maybe thirty seconds, and they had more time than that remaining in the test.

Suddenly, the crushing weight disappeared and he began to push the robot back. Now losing the struggle, the tremendous machine began to flail, throwing itself further off balance as it began to tip backwards.

Touching her fingertips together, the brown-haired girl released her Quirk.

The zero-pointer went crashing to the ground, armor plates buckling as they tried futilely to resist a far greater impact than they had ever been designed for, the whole weight of the monstrous machine now demanding it topple to the earth. The tremendous force caused dust to blow up through the entire replica city, silencing everyone in the testing area.

“AND THAT’S ALL THE TIME WE HAVE, LITTLE LISTENERS!,” shouted Present Mic’s voice, bringing the exam to a close.

* * *

Sumireko was waiting for Izuku outside UA’s front gate.

“I assume the exam went well?”

“I- um- yes, but more importantly, what are you doing here? I haven’t seen you since you gave me my amulet.”

She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, sorry for ghosting on you for a while there. I got involved in some shenanigans involving evil dream me and needed to resolve that. At least I got you to Mamizou before then.”

“And that’s another thing - how, exactly, do you know Mamizou?”

She looked pointedly at the trickle of students leaving UA. “Not here. Follow me.”

She led him down a series of streets and alleys to a small cafe, grabbing a seat towards the back.

Izuku looked around the cafe as he grabbed the menu. Although it didn’t have many customers, it was still hardly a private setting. “This is supposed to be a better place to talk about that stuff?”

Sumireko put her menu to the side. “Most of the people in town who are into occult stuff come here, and nobody’s more skeptical of the occult than other occultists. Everyone here’s gonna be minding their own business and focusing on their own investigations, because everyone thinks they’re the only one who’s on the right track. Case in point, the guy sitting by the door, Saul, is a crazy drunkard who thinks he found a magical golden city of invisible gods in the middle of the jungle.”

Izuku took another glance at the patrons. They did seem to be engaged in their own discussions - or in Saul’s case, his drink. The nearest group was three tables away, where a red-haired young woman in a strawberry-red dress and matching shoulder cape was in the middle of describing something to a blonde girl in a white sailor outfit, using a funnel and string to illustrate whatever her point was.

“So, anyways, how I got here. My quirk is a pretty useless one - I can take patterns on cloth and make them animate as I please.” She held out her cape to demonstrate, the nordic runes sewn into the inside of it scrolling slowly by, as though they were on an electric billboard. “But, I was also born with psychic powers. I quickly realized that they weren’t a quirk, but something else - something greater. I never experienced quirk exhaustion when I used my powers, and the applications I found for them over time were far broader than nearly any quirk I had ever heard of. I knew enough to keep them secret, and the stress of having to hide my powers while knowing that I was completely unlike anyone else caused me to drift apart from the world. Everyone my age is told to idolize heroes, to obsess over fashion, to watch the latest shows, everything like that, you know? All they care about is petty little modern fabrications while I’m having a crisis over why I was born with my powers.”

She stopped for a moment as the waitress came up to them and took their orders.

“So anyways, I resolved to discover why I had these powers, what I was here to do. I chased lead after lead for years, spending every last yen of my allowance on occult stuff, exhausting every avenue in search of an answer. Two years into this search, I found a single written account by someone who claimed to have been trapped in a land of youkai for two years. It was pure luck I found it - it was a blog post that had only been up for ten minutes when I stumbled across it, and after I spent a half hour copying it onto paper I tried to click through to the rest of the blog and found the whole thing had already been deleted. I knew this had to be something, and focused the whole of my search on looking for answers about this ‘Gensokyo’. At last, about two years ago, it finally happened.”

“You found a way in?”

She grinned. “I ran into a brick wall. Gensokyo’s barrier is meant to only let things in if it  _ wants _ them in. For a forgotten youkai, getting in is a piece of cake. For a meddler like me, actively trying to get in? Forget it. I’d never have managed it in a million years of work.”

“So how’d you get through, then?”

“I got used, that’s how. Random text message from an unknown number arrived three months after I admitted defeat, outlining a way in and exactly what to do. I managed to convince my parents to tour the globe for summer vacation, and after a year, I had gathered all the ingredients I needed to create six of what I called the ‘Occult Balls’. I just needed one more, and once more my mysterious contact came through - the next morning after creating the balls I discovered an unmarked package laid on my desk, containing the seventh. I was ready to break into Gensokyo.”

At this point, the waitress returned with their orders, and Sumireko paused to take a long sip of her green tea before continuing.

“Those initial seven Occult Balls allowed me to project my consciousness into Gensokyo, letting me mess around as I pleased with no risk to myself. But it still wasn’t enough. I reconfigured the Occult Balls, setting up a ritual to cast them into Gensokyo. They would naturally attach themselves to individuals, and could only be passed on if someone forcibly took them from you. Whenever someone was able to gather all seven, it would pull them out into our world temporarily, and I could then cast the balls back into Gensokyo. I was looking for another breakthrough, and I eventually found it when I reeled in Mamizou. She presented me with the solution to my problems: an eighth Occult Ball, this one not created from something in the outside world, but from items taken from Gensokyo.”

She chuckled. “It was a cunning trap, baited by my own desires. I wanted a way into Gensokyo, and she gave me exactly what I wanted - without a way to return on my own terms. I was trapped in Gensokyo and endured a string of attacks by youkai before I became desperate enough to try to do something very, very stupid. I was stopped by force, and returned to the outside world without the Occult Balls that had caused all that trouble. Imagine everyone’s surprise when I woke up in Gensokyo the next time I went to sleep. Turns out after that whole ordeal, I gained the ability to project myself into Gensokyo when I sleep. If I had to guess, it's because of prolonged exposure to the concentrated supernatural energy of the Occult Balls.”

“From there, I was able to reach an understanding with the residents of Gensokyo. I had been a pawn in a bigger game, so they were willing to forgive me, and Mamizou soon approached me with a request - she had left behind a son in the outside world, and wanted me to make sure he was safe. As someone from the Outside World who had already demonstrated exceptional skill at manipulating supernatural energies, I was the obvious choice.”

After a long moment, Izuku spoke. “Did you ever find out who your mysterious backer was?”

Sumireko’s lips curled into a snarl. “The Lunarians.”

“Wait, like people who live on the moon?”

“Yeah. They're the worst people you'll ever meet. They care only about themselves and their own society and everyone else might as well be insects to them. They have an obsession with purity, in the Shinto sense of the concept - by avoiding anything associated with death, they can keep themselves pure and stop themselves from ever aging or dying. There’s a few Lunarian refugees in Gensokyo who aren’t bad people, but as a whole you’ll generally want to steer clear of them if you ever run into them.”

She put down her empty cup of tea. “Well, I’ve probably taken up enough of your time. I’m sure Mamizou can tell you more when you see her tonight - she dropped the bomb on you, didn’t she?”

Izuku just nodded.

“She genuinely cares about you, it’s just that being a millennia-old youkai that focuses in trickery and disguise doesn’t really prep you for this sort of stuff. Hell, one of my best friends in Gensokyo is a millennia-old human and she’d probably have no idea how to properly handle it either.”

And with that, Sumireko departed, leaving Izuku with the bill.

* * *

All Might lingered in the observation room after the other teachers had left, rewatching Midoriya’s struggle with the zero pointer. The green-haired young boy had made it through the entire exam without so much as a scratch, and showing no signs of quirk fatigue. He turned to Principal Nezu, who was finishing up his tea as he looked through a stack of files.

Nezu responded before he could even voice his question. “Midoriya hasn’t been enrolled in any formal training of any kind, nor does his listed quirk have any applications that would enhance his physical strength. His screening test for any quirk-enhancing drugs also turned up completely negative.”

“Certain… incidents… in young Midoriya’s recent history have given me reason to be concerned that he may be connected to villains in some way. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve had a spy attempt to enroll.”

“I completely understand your concerns, but I will not compromise the integrity of UA’s entrance exams. He’s earned enough points to pass even without adding in Rescue Points. That said, to assuage your concerns, I will have him put under surveillance once he enters, until such time as we can be sure that he is not involved with any criminal elements. As for his unusual displays of physical ability, placing him in Eraserhead’s class should prevent him from being able to do much damage with any hidden aspects his quirk may have to it.”

“Thank you, principal. That truly does take a weight off my mind. I do apologize for making you go to this trouble.”

The principal waved off his apology. “There was another student whose background raised a red flag, so I was already going to have someone watched. It really is no extra bother to add a second.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I don't need any more exposition or setup, so I'm gonna go ahead and get to the entry exam now.  
Also Me: I'm gonna have Sumireko recap her entire backstory.
> 
> Mamizou being Hisashi was the plan from the very start of me conceiving this fic, for the primary reason that Izuku needed a very well-connected and influential member of Gensokyoan society looking out for him if he was going to be able to survive the Outside World as a half-youkai. Sumireko's Occult Balls make a lovely plot device for doing that, and Mamizou's got a friendship with her (she mentions in her Alternate Facts in Eastern Utopia interview that "Ms. Mami" sometimes hangs out with her in her city in the Outside World), so Mamizou it was.
> 
> Something about this chapter feels... off to me, somehow. I think it's the transitions between scenes during the test, I need to get better at those (and chapter endings when I don't have the nice neat crutch of "Izuku falls unconscious" that I leaned on in Chapter 1)


	5. Arrival of the Winds of the Era

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku gets answers out of Mamizou, gets his entry exam results back and takes the Quirk Assessment Test.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always for your continued support, it helps a lot with keeping up the motivation to bang out a chapter each week!
> 
> If you read the last chapter when it was posted, I made a minor change to it just before putting this chapter up - I changed a line from All Might's thoughts about Izuku to remove a mention that he was breaking the robots' limbs with his chops, to bring Izuku's boosted strength level down slightly. He's part tanuki, not oni, so while being part youkai makes him stronger, I felt it was a bit too much, at least at this point in the story.

That night, Izuku set out to get answers out of Mamizou.

He found her alone in the temple graveyard, sitting on a gravestone and looking at the forest, back to him, ears twitching occasionally at some distant sound. Unable to bring himself to break the silence, he sat awkwardly on the ground next to her gravestone and gazed into the forest as well. A trio of lights could be seen faintly flitting about deep in the woods.

After what seemed like an eternity, she spoke.

“The people of Sado called me Futatsuiwa Daimyoujin, once. My pack found it an absolute riot - the dreaded Danzaburou, bane of honest men, the tanuki who drove the kitsune from Sado once and for all, being worshipped as a god? Ridiculous, the biggest con job yet. They started to call me by that name as well, and I happily took it for myself. Soon enough, I became famous throughout the youkai community. Futatsuiwa from Sado, cleverest of all the tanuki, who rose all the way from being a lowly, powerless animal to a god. Probably not a single youkai back then who didn’t know that name - I absolutely dominated the gossip, or so Nue tells me. We lived it up like kings, ornamenting our hideout with lavish gifts given to me by worshippers, convinced the good times were never going to end.”

Izuku remembered what Sumireko had told him when they first met. “But humanity moved on.”

A wistful smile crossed Mamizou’s face. “Being worshipped as a god turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. With two separate streams of belief, I outlasted the rest of my pack, and every other youkai I knew from back then. Even Nue, my oldest and most trusted friend, had gone and died on me. And so I soldiered on, completely alone, watching as the years went by and my shrine fell into disrepair, getting fewer and fewer visitors. Soon enough, I knew the end was near. I resolved to leave the world in the form that made me famous, and took on my old human disguise to wait out the final decade or two that I had. And then she came along.”

His voice was a whisper. “Mom.”

“Inko was the first visitor to my shrine in months, touring Japan after graduating from university. To this day I don’t know how she learned about the shrine, but she made the trek out to it to sightsee and found me there. First thing I ever heard out of her was her chewing me out for sleeping on the floor of a shrine.”

She chuckled at the memory. “Then she asked me if I had a place to stay. Absolutely boggled my mind - back in my heyday, I used that form to con people so frequently that nobody’d give ‘Hisashi’ the time of day - and, in my utter bewilderment, I agreed. We hit it off in no time at all, and she offered to let me accompany her throughout the rest of her trip. I figured that even if I was doomed to fade into nothingness, I could at least make sure someone remembered me, and accepted.

“Now, I may be a swindler, but never let it be said that I don’t repay kindness. I offered to cover all the costs of the trip, but she insisted that she pay for everything. We ended up splitting the costs, and when our travels finally came to an end and I figured it was time to part ways, I learned what it takes to genuinely surprise a crafty old youkai like myself.”

Izuku had an idea of what it was. “She proposed?”

Mamizou nodded. “We had a quiet, private ceremony before settling in her hometown, and I got to enjoy a taste of that human life I had watched from the outside for so long. The day you were born was one of the happiest moments of my long, long life.”

Sighing, she continued, “But I never could avoid the inescapable fact of my inevitable end. With every birthday we celebrated as a family, I was reminded of my own ticking clock. I could not - I  _ would _ not - force you and Inko to watch as I grew weaker and died from something no doctor would be able to even understand, let alone cure.

“I told her I was taking a work post abroad to support you, and set out to travel the world. One last hurrah for wily old Danzaburou. No swindling, no pranks, just the stuff that first got me worship: giving money to people in dire need, acting as a savior in their darkest times. All I asked in exchange was that they pay forward a small amount of their income, and even then, only if they truly felt that they needed to repay my kindness. In five years of roaming the earth, I built a network that would be able to provide for you and Inko for the rest of your lives, as well as any descendants you’d have. And then, I returned to Sado to lay down and die.

“When I returned, I experienced true surprise for the second time. Among the precious few offerings at my shrine was a letter, written in unmistakable handwriting I’d long since given up hope of ever seeing again. Nue, that crazy old bastard, had somehow survived the years just as I, and made her way to Gensokyo. She requested that ‘Futatsuiwa from Sado once more ride to war and remind the world to fear her name’.”

She shook her head lightly. “She always had a flair for the dramatic. Honestly, I never waged war even at my most feared. Her letter came at a perfect time, though. I made my way to Gensokyo and was able to stay in touch with you by writing letters.”

She pulled out her kiseru and began to fill it. “So there you have it, the story of how I failed at being a parent.”

After a brief silence, Izuku spoke. “So… I'm a half-god?”

Mamizou threw him an incredulous glance as she lit her pipe. “That whole story, and that's what you focus on? No, I never got quite enough worship to become an actual god. Still a youkai, through and through. A powerful one, though - not at the level of the Youkai of Boundaries, but definitely up there in the rankings. I heard the Astral Knight even went to her doom because she was worried my fame would eclipse hers.”

Neither of those titles matched up to any myths he knew. “I’m unfamiliar with either of those youkai.”

“Both of them were unique youkai, one-of-a-kind beings who don’t come from any of the types usually spoken of in myths - kappa, oni, and so on. The first one is the creator of Gensokyo, Yakumo Yukari. She’s a weird case - never really cared for fame and legend, but her behavior is otherwise absolutely that of an archetypical youkai. She does as she pleases, when she pleases, for reasons only she fully understands, and there isn’t a force on earth that’ll stop her. To my knowledge, the only one who's ever actually pulled one over on her is the Lunarian Sage, and considering what happened later, I'd reckon Yukari still got the last laugh.”

She blew smoke into the air. “As for the Astral Knight, I don’t truly know her name, only her reputation and the tales of her exploits. She rose to prominence during the Sengoku period, butchering entire battlefields and fancying herself a ruler. Gathered a number of the more violent youkai under her banner before finally getting herself killed trying to take Kyoto. The humans feared her so much they erased every trace of her they could find. I doubt there’s a single myth left out there about her.”

A whimpering from the forest interrupted their conversation. A wolf padded out, making a whining noise as it attempted to open its jaws, which were stuck fast to a strange purple ball.

Mamizou tsked, getting off of her gravestone to tend to the animal. “Blasted wolves get into all sorts of stuff they shouldn’t. The Forest of Magic’s got plenty of weird stuff you shouldn’t eat, but they haven’t advanced enough as youkai yet to be smart enough not to bite whatever they find that smells tasty.”

Stroking the wolf’s fur comfortingly, she turned the ball into a leaf before discarding it. Liberated, the wolf gave a happy bark and nuzzled against her before running back into the forest. As if in response, a few more wolves walked out of the woods, more of the sticky balls stuck to parts of their fur and paws.

“There might be a lot of them asking for help, if a whole pack got into this stuff. You mind giving me a hand?”

As Izuku hurried to free the wolves, he continued their conversation. “I don’t think I can really fault you for disappearing on us, you were caught in a difficult situation and did what you thought was best to support us. It definitely helps that you kept in touch - though, to be honest, even with your letters I was almost starting to suspect you were secretly a supervillain.”

“Ha! You’re not exactly wrong, youkai were basically the villains of the olden days. If you overlay the metrics of modern heroics onto the old myths then about half of Gensokyo’s population is the equivalent of retired villains.”

An absolutely massive wolf, one eye heavily scarred, emerged from the treeline and walked over to Mamizou, looking almost smug. Izuku smelled blood on its breath as it opened its maw, revealing more of the purple balls stuck in its teeth and gums. Mamizou, unconcerned, set about removing them.

“So how’d the entry exam go, anyways?”

Izuku tore his eyes away from the gargantuan beast, which was looking at him the way one might eye their dessert. “Um, I think it went well overall. I’ve been studying before going to bed so the written section wasn’t an issue, and I’m pretty sure the robots they use are made to be easy to take down for untrained applicants. I know they keep Recovery Girl on deck for treating injuries, but I think that’s just in case of a worst-case scenario - I only saw one major injury in my testing group, and it wasn’t even directly caused by a robot.”

She stuck her head into the wolf’s open mouth, looking around for any remaining irritants. “Robots, eh? Yeah, you’d have had no trouble with that. They’re not a threat to youkai.”

Not for the first time, Izuku wished he could take a notebook to Gensokyo when he slept. “What do you mean?”

Mamizou patted the wolf’s side, signalling that its mouth was free of foreign objects. It turned and walked back into the woods. “So youkai are spiritual entities, yeah? Despite being able to affect the world around us, we’re fundamentally creatures of belief. This is why it’s almost always monks and other holy figures dealing with us in myths - they had the skill to use spiritual energy to attack us. Samurai in a pinch could use prayers to augment their weapons, too - I heard ol’ Ibaraki-Douji lost an arm that way. The problem with robots is there’s no soul behind them, so their attacks completely lack any spiritual component. Not impossible to damage a youkai, if the force of the attack is great enough, but since Byakuren’s training focused on yer defense, they might as well have been going at an iron wall with a toothpick. I reckon even some shrimp of a kid punching you would have better success, since at least they’d have their own will behind the blow.”

She stretched, beginning to make her way to the cemetery’s entrance. “Anyways, glad to hear it went well, even if I already expected as much. How about we grab a bite to eat as celebration?”

* * *

Hellforge strode down the street with single-minded focus, making his way towards Yoroi Musha’s hero agency. The pavement cracked and bubbled as he passed, unable to withstand the immense heat radiating off the villain’s molten metal form. If he took any satisfaction in his unstoppable advance, it didn’t show on the vaguely skeletal metal that formed his face.

He stopped. At the next intersection was an instantly-recognizable silhouette, standing tall and muscular with two iconic tufts of hair.

“Izuku! Honey!”

Izuku paused the video. He’d seen it before, anyways - Hellforge’s rampage was seemingly unstoppable until All Might had brought it to an abrupt end. It remained one of the number one hero’s more famous takedowns.

His mother burst into the room, waving a letter bearing UA’s seal. “It’s here! UA’s response arrived!”

He gingerly took the letter containing his future. It was heavier than he imagined, like it contained something more than just paper. A good sign, hopefully. Considering how many faux villains he had destroyed, he was probably in the clear, but worrying had always been in his nature. Tearing open the envelope, he found a set of letters and paperwork, as well as a metal disc. As he set the disc on his table, it activated, projecting an image of…

“I AM HERE! WITH YOUR ENTRY EXAM RESULTS!”

“ALL MIGHT!?”

“Yes! It is I, All Might! I have taken a position with UA for the coming year, and, as the newest member of the faculty, I was selected to record the exam result videos to help me acclimate to my duties! Now then, young Midoriya, without any further ado...”

The number one hero coughed and straightened a set of papers handed to him from off-camera.

“Your written exam results were exceptional, speaking to a studious nature and diligent preparation that will serve any aspiring young hero well! On top of that, you earned a respectable 55 Villain Points during the practical portion of the exam, nearly enough to place you within the top ten scorers!”

_ That’s about what I expected, considering I spent the last part of the exam helping that girl escape the zero-pointer. Anyone who was still hunting robots during that time would’ve passed me. _

“But that’s not all we grade on! What sort of hero school would we be if we didn’t reward entrants for doing the right thing? To that end, there was a hidden component to the test: Rescue Points! For risking life and limb to save your fellow applicant from the zero-pointer, the judges saw fit to award you 20 Rescue Points!”

All Might reached a hand towards the camera, as though offering it to Izuku.

“So allow me to be the first to congratulate you, young Midoriya! This is the start of your Hero Academia!”

The video ended, transitioning to a screen displaying the top ten applicants:

  
  


**Name**

| 

**Villain Points**

| 

**Rescue Points**  
  
---|---|---  
  
Kirishima Eijirou

| 

65

| 

35  
  
Bakugou Katsuki

| 

77

| 

0  
  
Midoriya Izuku

| 

55

| 

20  
  
Uraraka Ochako

| 

28

| 

45  
  
Shiozaki Ibara

| 

36

| 

32  
  
Yanagi Reiko

| 

45

| 

22  
  
Kendo Itsuka

| 

25

| 

40  
  
Iida Tenya

| 

52

| 

9  
  
Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

| 

49

| 

10  
  
Tokoyami Fumikage

| 

47

| 

10  
  
He sat there, the scoreboard burning itself into his eyes, as it sank in.

He had made it.

He was going to the school of his dreams, something that had seemed nearly unattainable just a year ago.

* * *

Spring rolled around soon enough, bringing with it the first day of school at UA.

“1-A… 1-A… this school’s too big, where’s the classroom?”

He came to a stop in front of an absolutely tremendous door labeled as the classroom in question.

_ I guess this must be to ensure they can accommodate all sorts of quirks? _

Pushing open the door, he wondered who’d be in his class.

_ With any luck, neither Kacchan nor that glasses kid will be in the class. _

“I must insist that you take your feet off that desk immediately! Such an action shows disrespect to your classmates, the craftsmen who made that desk, and the sacred institution of UA!”

“Eh? And what middle school did you go to that put that damn stick up your ass, you two-bit extra!?”

_ Ah, great, they’re both here. _

“Stick up my…?” The glasses-wearing kid was clearly taken aback by Bakugou’s words. Composing himself, he began again.“I attended the respected Soumei High School. My name is Iida Tenya.”

“That stuck-up private school, huh?” Bakugou sneered. “So that’s it, huh, you fucking elitist, you go to one good school and think you’re better than everyone else?”

“Wh- I would never! Someone aspiring to heroics should aspire to promote good relations with their classmates!”

Glancing awkwardly around the room from the entrance, Izuku spotted the brown-haired girl from the entrance exam. She grinned and gave him a small wave, which he returned. Catching the movement out of the corner of his eye, Iida broke off his argument and approached.

“Hello there! I’m Iida Tenya from Soumei…”

Izuku held his hands up in front of him. “Ah, yeah, I already overheard. I’m Midoriya, it’s nice to meet you…”

“Midoriya, I feel I owe you an apology for my actions during the entrance exam. I let my nerves get to me and dismissed you as being unfit to be a hero, when you were truthfully more capable than I. Doubtlessly, you were able to discern the true nature of the exam as a judgment of one’s heroic aptitude, proving yourself the better man!”

_ I didn’t even know Rescue Points were a thing, though. _

Someone brushed against Izuku’s back as they squeezed through the doorway.

“Ah, sorry for blocking the doorway!”

“...it’s no problem.”

A girl with chin-length gray hair covering one eye had slid past him as she quite literally floated into the classroom, contorting her body to minimize her profile and make it through the narrow opening. She seemed to have no idea what to do with her hands, and they instead dangled at her sides, roughly level with her elbows. If not for her school uniform, she would have looked the very picture of the classical japanese ghost.

Iida wasted no time in addressing the newcomer. “It is a violation of the law to use your quirk in public unless you have a license to do so! We may be in a hero school, but unless you have received permission from the faculty to use your quirk outside of training exercises, I will have to request that you obey all applicable statutes!”

Wordlessly, the girl complied, lowering to land on her feet. She then began to walk over to her seat with a slight, but noticeable, limp.

Iida immediately apologized. “Please forgive my insensitivity, I had not realized you were injured! Have you been to see Recovery Girl, Miss…?”

“Yanagi Reiko. And it’s not something capable of being repaired. I was attacked by a wolf when I ventured into the woods when I was younger.”

A girl with long black hair done up into a ponytail put a hand to her chin in thought, wondering aloud, “But wolves have been extinct in Japan since the Meiji period…?”

Reiko took her seat before responding. “Ah, my apologies. Rather, it was a large, irate dog. The incident has been built up in my memory, over time. The injury’s deleterious effects have lingered long after the encounter.”

A brief silence followed, giving way to more muted chatter among the students as Izuku made his way over to the brown-haired girl’s seat. Before he could open his mouth to talk to her, however, the classroom door slid open and a haggard-looking man with long, unkempt black hair made his way over to the teacher’s desk. His outfit was a simple one, eschewing the flashy trappings common in pro heroics - a simple black shirt and pants, as well as a long grey scarf and a simple but functional utility belt.

After taking a moment to size up the class, he spoke.

“It took you lot eight seconds too many to settle down. It’s irrational to waste time, especially when time is of the essence.”

Reaching down to open a desk drawer, he continued, “I’m your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. Put these on and report to the P.E. grounds.”

Retrieving a pile of blue jumpsuits, he dumped them unceremoniously on the desk and left.

Everyone stared blankly for a moment as his words sank in. Then, there was a brief rush for the desk as the students rummaged through the jumpsuits for ones in their size.

* * *

Aizawa addressed the gathered students, “Today, you will be taking a Quirk Apprehension Test, with the aim of establishing a baseline for your capabilities. Japan has yet to adjust the standard of physical testing to account for the age we live in. Irrational as it may be, they bar the usage of quirks in similar tests in middle school, as though differences between individual students will simply cease to exist if they ignore them.”

Nodding to Bakugou, he motioned for the boy to stand in the middle of a marked circle.

  
“Bakugou. How far could you pitch a softball in the middle school tests?”

“67 meters.”

Aizawa tossed him a softball with some sort of sensor attached to it.

“Use your quirk, and don’t hold back. As long as you don’t leave the circle, anything is fine.”

Bakugou nodded, and wound up for a throw. As his hand let go of the ball, he let out a massive explosion to propel it through the air, roaring “DIIIIIEEE!” as he did.

A measurement device in Aizawa’s hand beeped twice, and the teacher checked the display before showing it to the class.

705.2m

“A hero should understand their own capabilities more than anything else. These metrics will form the foundation of your development here at UA.”

Some students began chattering among themselves.

“705 meters? That’s so manly!”

“Awesome! This’ll be fun!”

Aizawa shot a glare at the group. “‘Fun’, you say?”

The class fell silent as the hero continued.

“I thought you were here to become Heroes, not to enjoy yourselves for three years. How about this, then: I will expel whoever performs the worst over the course of these tests.”

A bit of fear emanated from some of the students at this comment.

Some brave soul piped up, “That’s unreasonable!”

“UA’s heroics department allows its teachers the freedom to do as they please. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to end the dreams of someone who thinks they can half-ass their heroics training before their story ends in tragedy. This is ‘Plus Ultra’. I expect you to overcome these obstacles, if you’re to be worthy of being called ‘Heroes’.”

* * *

Izuku’s mind swam with possibilities for how to use his ability as the students gathered around the course for the fifty-meter dash.

_ Most likely a rocket or something similar would be best for acceleration. I’ll need to be careful with my choice, as I can’t assume I’ll be allowed to spin it up before the dash begins if I use something that has a startup delay. _

He plucked a hair from his head and willed it to become what he needed.

Nothing happened.

_ How have I gone eight months without testing if I can use my own hair!? _

“Aizawa-sensei?”

“Yes, Midoriya?”

“My, ah, my quirk transforms other objects, but apparently doesn’t work on things taken from me like hair. Would I be able to get something to use?”

“No.”

As Izuku reeled from the blunt rejection, Aizawa continued, “You can’t always ensure a situation is to your advantage in heroics. This limitation of your quirk is a useful one to know, keep it in mind going forward.”

As Izuku turned back to the course, the blond boy he had seen during the entrance exam was lining up along with a pink girl who had two small yellow horns jutting out from her hair. Bizarrely, he was facing backwards. As Aizawa signalled the start, the boy leapt into the air and fired his laser, the recoil propelling him halfway down the course before he crashed clumsily to the ground, clambered to his feet, and repeated the motion for a final time of 5.51 seconds.

“Bakugou, Midoriya, you’re up.”

Izuku silently thanked the boy for his unorthodox technique as he gathered surprise from the air, taking his place at the starting grid. As Aizawa gave the signal, he poured it into his legs and began running. Bakugou blasted on well ahead of him, as expected from the boy’s versatile quirk, but Izuku still got a very respectable time of 5.6 seconds.

* * *

Izuku grinned as he received the dynamometer for the grip strength test, letting his Ability flow through the device and weaken the components it used for resisting the forces applied to it. As he squeezed the grip, it broke.

“Midoriya.”

“Y- yes, Aizawa-sensei?”

“The point of this test is to get an accurate measure of how much compressive force you can apply with the usage of your quirk.”

Taking the ruined device from Izuku, he continued, “With that in mind, wouldn’t you agree that sabotaging the equipment’s ability to take accurate readings is contradictory to the test?”

Chastened, Izuku silently nodded.

“I’m taking this device down to the support labs for repair. Take the second one from Shouji, and use it properly this time.”

As Aizawa departed, someone tapped Izuku in the shoulder. Turning, he saw Reiko hovering there.

“Midoriya.”

“Um, yes, Yanagi?”

“Why did you use your quirk to sabotage the dynamometer? It would have been more efficacious to conjure up a vice in a manner similar to Yaoyorozu. You say you are incapable of using it without an object to transmute, but you’ve been wearing an amulet this whole time without showing any inclination to use it.”

Almost unconsciously, Izuku’s hand covered his lifeline, shielding it. “I, uh, can’t use my quirk on this. It’s, um, got sentimental value?”

Reiko stared at him for a long moment. Just as he began to grow uncomfortable under her gaze, she turned and drifted off.

He measured 125kg on the grip test.

* * *

The tests continued without further disturbance, Izuku having given up the thought of using his ability after two unsuccessful attempts. The distance run ended up being an absolute farce - Yaoyorozu (the girl with the long black ponytail, it turned out), Iida, Reiko, and Izuku all competed with each other up until time had to be called in the interest of being able to finish the tests. Yaoyorozu had used her quirk of Creation to produce a motor scooter and fuel for it, allowing her to go on without any risk of tiring, Iida had plenty of experience and a highly-refined running form, Reiko had apparently been using her quirk to levitate herself nearly every day for years and showed no signs of growing tired from the effort, and Izuku simply had inhuman reserves of stamina due to his inhuman heritage.

Eventually, they came to the final test, the softball throw that Bakugou had been chosen to demonstrate at the start. After Kirishima had taken his turn (700 meters), Izuku stepped up to the pitch.

He wound up for the throw-

“Midoriya.”

-and released. The ball sailed a respectable distance. He turned to his teacher, whose hair somehow looked even more unkempt, as though it had just been flipped up and fallen down again.

“Yes?”

The measurement device in Aizawa’s hands beeped twice. The scraggly man looked at it, before turning it to show Izuku his score.

130m

“...never mind. Good throwing arm.”

Bakugou lobbed himself out of the crowd, lunging towards Izuku with a crazed look in his eye while popping off a series of explosions in his right hand.

“DEKU, YOU ABSOLUTE BASTARD!”

As Izuku braced for impact, the sound of explosions stopped. Silvery-gray loops flung out and wrapped themselves around Bakugou, thoroughly entangling the blond. Holding the other end of the coils, which appeared to be the loops of his overly-long scarf, Aizawa glared at the boy with newly-red eyes. His hair drifted up around his head as though he were underwater, and distinctive yellow goggles, formerly hidden by his scarf, were now visible hanging around his neck.

“I’ve erased your quirk. I won’t tolerate disruptive outbursts of this kind during my classes.”

Aizawa was now instantly identifiable to Izuku. “That’s it! You’re the underground hero Eraserhead! You’re capable of erasing the quirks of those you look at, but your power comes with a drawback of drying your eyes out the more you use it! You wear those goggles to prevent things getting in your eye because if you blink, the effect ends!”

The underground hero glanced at Izuku for a moment before turning his attention back to Bakugou. “Stop making me use my quirk so much. We’ll talk after class.”

Bakugou was still glaring at Izuku.

“I said, we’ll talk after class. Is that  _ understood, _ Bakugou?”

After a tense moment, Bakugou gruffly nodded. Aizawa released him, and he turned away and returned to the rest of the class.

Aizawa pulled out a hologram projector and clicked a button on it, displaying a chart of the class’s overall rankings. Izuku was in the top half.

An invisible girl, recognizable only by her jumpsuit, fell to her knees - evidently the ‘Hagakure Tooru’ who had come in last.

“By the way,” The teacher said, grinning, “The whole ‘expulsion’ thing was a lie. A logical ruse, in order to ensure you gave it your all.”

Hagakure was now bawling.

“Curriculum sheets are back in the classroom, look them over so you know what the schedule is. Class is dismissed. And Bakugou, remember, stick around.”

* * *

Aizawa was left on the field with the blond after the rest of the class filtered out.

“Now then, Bakugou, explain to me why you lashed out at Midoriya like that.”

The student huffed. “Isn’t it obvious? The damn bastard’s mocking me, looking down on me.”

This raised an eyebrow. “Really? I could understand you thinking that about Yaoyorozu, who got number one overall, or even Uraraka, who got an unbeatable score on the same event you attacked Midoriya over. There’s more to it than that.”

Bakugou snarled. “There isn’t. They gave it their all, but Deku’s holding back like I’m unworthy to see his full power. I was with him every year of schooling up to this point, so I know him like the back of my hand. He couldn’t even scratch half that distance back in middle school, but now he casually throws 130? He’s hiding something.”

The blond stormed off. Aizawa made no move to stop him.

* * *

Aizawa found All Might talking with Kirishima about something. He got the number one hero’s attention and motioned in the direction of the teacher’s lounge before heading there himself. Before long, All Might joined him.

“My apologies, Aizawa! I was just wrapping up my discussion with young Kirishima! Now, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“I still don’t agree with Nezu’s decision on this matter. I feel the more rational decision would be to simply expel Midoriya if you have concerns that he’s connected to villains.”

“While I understand the sentiment - it’s one I initially had, myself - I respect the principal’s approach to this situation. If we are mistaken, and Midoriya is innocent, then all that expelling him would do is push a talented student towards villainy.”

Aizawa threw a folder onto the lounge’s coffee table. All Might opened it, looking through the contents.

“Regardless,” the underground hero continued, “I did what was requested to confirm our hunch. Midoriya wasn’t permitted to use his Object Transformation during the test, those are all baseline physical capabilities. Nothing that would be impossible for a quirkless individual who’s fit enough, even the distance run - I had to cut it off before I ran out of time for the remaining tests. But,”

All Might’s attention was now fully on the underground hero.

“They’re all too good, when taken as a whole. Every one of his results is within spitting distance of athletics records from prior to the emergence of quirks. And they all display tremendous improvement from his middle school data, far beyond what one would typically expect. His quirk should have been erased on the softball throw, but there was no drop in his capabilities. It’s possible someone else has used a quirk to boost his physical ability - that would have gotten around my erasure.”

The number one hero stifled a cough. “I… I see. That is troubling, indeed.”

* * *

Izuku was chatting with Iida as he left the school building.

“Aizawa-sensei really had me fooled! I thought to myself, ‘so this is what the most elite school is like!’ However, encouraging your students to draw out their potential via deception is a brilliant strategy! Naturally it wouldn’t do to allow students to simply coast comfortably on their own capabilities...”

A girl’s voice cried out, “Hey, are you headed to the station? Wait for me!”

Iida turned as the brown-haired girl ran up.

“Ah, you’re the girl who threw infinity on the softball toss.”

She nodded. “Uraraka Ochako, pleased to meet you! If I’m not mistaken, you’re, uh… Iida Tenya and Midoriya Deku!”

Izuku coughed. “Um, Deku?”

“Yeah, isn’t that what that Bakugou kid was calling you?”

“Uh, my name is actually Izuku. Kacchan just calls me ‘Deku’ to demean me.”

Uraraka rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Oh, really? Sorry about that. Though I have to say, I kinda like the name ‘Deku’ for you! Kinda sounds like ‘dekiru’, ‘you can do it’, y’know?”

_ Taking an insulting name and owning it, transforming its meaning… yeah, I can get behind that. _

A smile grew on Izuku’s face. “Deku it is, then.”

Iida butted in, “Midoriya, don’t be such a pushover! Bakugou’s name is meant as an insult, remember?”

Uraraka, however, had moved on to the next topic. “Aizawa-sensei really had it out for you, huh? He just refused to let you use your quirk! I get that a real hero might be caught off-guard at times, but doesn’t that sorta go against the goal of figuring out quirk’s capabilities?”

They continued to chat about various topics all the way until their paths diverged.

As Izuku returned home, he smiled to himself, satisfied that his first day of UA had gone even better than he could have hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I accidentally overthought Mamizou's backstory and dumped like half a tank of angst on it, whoops.
> 
> The Futatsuiwa Daimyoujin Shrine, in actuality, appears to be quite well maintained, from what I've seen on google, and seems to have a steady stream of visitors. Granted, most of those pics of it have Touhou merch in them, so I don't know how much of that visitor stream is driven by Touhou fans.
> 
> Big Wolf is on the verge of becoming a youkai, much like the Man-Eating Snake from Forbidden Scrollery that had freshly become a youkai. Please clap for Big Wolf's outstanding accomplishments in the field of "being scary". Big Wolf will not be making any future appearances, probably.
> 
> For Izuku's score on the practical portion of the entry exam, my rationale was that he would be better at taking down villain bots than Iida because of effectively ignoring their armor, but not as good as Bakugou because Bakugou has superior mobility and didn't spend the last portion of the test fighting the zero-pointer. He in turn got fewer Rescue Points than in canon because he didn't send the thing flying with a punch, and indeed was in danger of getting squashed by it without Uraraka's intervention. I didn't change Uraraka's rescue points because I figured the save was analogous enough to her saving Izuku from death by falling in canon.
> 
> I looked up actual sports records to figure out where to put Izuku's results for the Quirk Assessment Test.  
The 50-meter dash record is 5.56 seconds, with 5.64 and up landing you within the top 25. (Shout-out to Bakugou getting a time of 5.58 in the middle school no-quirks-allowed test).  
Grip Strength was harder to find - I think the record is 130kg by a Herman Goerner?  
Standing Long jump I didn't mention but that record's 3.73 meters.  
Softball Throw (technically a Baseball throw distance record, I couldn't find one for softball) is 135.89 meters by the Canadian Glen Gorbous.


	6. Swift Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukauchi continues his investigation, and the Battle Trials happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I broke 1k hits! Truthfully, I'm sorry about this chapter - I had intended it to go up earlier but ended up losing a lot of my time to a playthrough of Indivisible. I thought it would be fine, I had an idea of where I wanted the chapter to go, but I ended up running into issues actually writing it out in a way I was satisfied with, and once again I'm not 100% happy with the final product (as with the entry exam). 
> 
> On top of that, this ended up being shorter than my usual target because I couldn't find a later breakpoint that I was happy with. I'd have thrown in one of the various teaser things I have in my pocket, but I didn't feel like it had the chapter leave off on a good point - it sorta messed up the flow even more. It's still longer than the first chapter, at least. Please accept my humblest apologies, and as always, I'm appreciative of your continued support despite my inadequacies. I've already started on the next chapter to try to hopefully get back to Monday updates, I feel like I owe it to you guys.

There were some days when Tsukauchi loved his job.

Today, he reflected, as he sat in a dimly-lit bar that smelled strongly of vomit, was not one of those days. His background check on the Midoriyas had found nothing suspicious about Inko or her family, nor anything about Hisashi's family outside. Hisashi himself, however, was a different story. The man had skipped out on the Midoriyas when his son had turned 3 - Tsukauchi already knew that. However, as soon as he was out of Japan, the man's movements became extremely difficult to track. Either he eschewed modern transportation methods, avoiding cameras and documentation, or he had access to a quirk that allowed him to avoid detection. Months of searching had led Tsukauchi to a long trail of villains and more small-time crooks Hisashi had given money to, but even that was fraught with dead ends and false leads.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Checking it, he saw a new email from one of the foreign detectives he was working with.

_ Inspector Naomasa, _

_ As requested, I was able to get permission from the warden to question Wastewalker about his interactions with Midoriya. Apparently, Midoriya visited him after his business went bankrupt and gave him enough money to pay off his creditors. However, he instead decided to go on the rampage that got him jailed. He was very insistent that Midoriya didn’t require any repayment, and that he never gave the man a cent. _

_ -Inspector Jones _

It tracked with all the accounts so far. Midoriya had apparently wandered the world freely giving money to all sorts of unscrupulous types. It made no sense - there had to be an angle he was missing.

A large hand slammed a glass down in front of him. “Bad form to be checking your emails while waiting for your contact, don’t you think, officer?”

A behemoth of a man stared down at him from a single, milky white eye. “Call me Polyphemus. I believe you contacted me about talking with me, so what brings you to my humble bar?”

Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow. “Still going by your villain name even after you claim to have gone straight?”

“Hah! Reminds me where I came from, and what I’m not going back to.”

“Well, I hate to dredge up a past you're intent on forgetting, but I'd like to ask about your dealings with a Midoriya Hisashi.”

A wide smile grew on the cyclopean man's face. “Ah, Midoriya, huh? That man was my savior, got me out of the whole villainy business. Ransom attempt gone wrong - kid I grabbed stabbed me in the eye, blinded me. My right hand man saw an opportunity to make a power play and seized control of my gang, left me bleeding out in the gutter. I would've died that day, but Midoriya found me and brought me to the hospital. Paid for all my treatment, and even left me some money for my own. I saw the writing on the wall, then - ironic, considering I'm blind - and decided to leave the business before I had another brush with death. I took that money, left my native Greece, and set up a bar here with the one member of my group who stayed loyal to me. I've been sending small payments Midoriya's way ever since I got this place off the ground.”

_ That _ definitely qualified as something he had missed. “Midoriya asked you to repay him?”

“Hah! That softy? Not at all! He was very clear - only pay him back if I wanted to, and had the means to do so without jeopardizing my finances. Didn't even ask for much, just a small amount paid on a regular basis. Honestly I'd probably be paying loan sharks much more, if I'd tried going straight on my own.”

He typed a note into his phone:  _ possible lead: Hisashi’s income sources _ “And do you know of any other villains Midoriya, uh, ‘helped’?”

Polyphemus seemed baffled by the question. “Any other villains? No, not at all. Only other guy I know of was a fisherman whose ship was completely lost overnight during a bad storm. Just walked up to the docks in the morning to find his way to make a living completely gone. That guy insisted on repaying him, too.”

Tsukauchi donned his hat and got up from his seat. “I see. Well, thank you for your time.”

As he departed, he heard the former villain shouting after him, “Hey! You just gonna leave without buying anything? I’ve got a business to run here!”

* * *

UA’s curriculum was surprisingly mundane aside from being taught by pro heroes, Izuku considered as he sat in the classroom waiting for the afternoon’s classes to begin. It made sense, when he thought about it - UA was still a high school with a duty to give its students a proper education, after all, and heroes couldn’t get by on nothing but combat ability. This only made the upcoming course even more interesting in comparison.

Just three words, with no other explanation given:

_ Foundational Heroics Studies _ .

The unknown has a way of making the mind run wild. What could the course entail? Simple studies in heroics history and laws? Reviews of villain takedowns and notable rescues? Quirk training? Actual combat training? Few members of 1-A could resist the topic - Izuku could hear some of his classmates throwing around theories as to the mysterious course’s nature.

The chatter was immediately silenced by an unmistakable, boisterous voice from the hallway:

“I AM HERE!”

The door to the classroom slid open as the number one hero struck a pose at the entrance.

“...AND I AM COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”

All Might swaggered up to the desk at the front of the classroom in a well-practiced manner that spoke of his countless interviews and public appearances. As he did so, the chatter shifted to discussion about their teacher.

“Within Foundational Heroics Studies, you’ll be building up the skills essential to heroics through a variety of trials! In this way you’ll gain practical experience that will benefit you in the field! Now, for the first class, we’ll jump right into the deep end with a Battle Trial!”

He motioned towards a set of slots on the wall, which slid open to reveal sets of numbered containers.

“In light of your first battle, we’ve prepared the equipment you submitted design requests for! The gear you’ll bring to the battlefield as a hero is vitally important! Get changed and gather at Ground Beta!”

* * *

At one time, Izuku’s ideal hero outfit had been heavily inspired by All Might. An old sketch, with elements meant to evoke the number one hero’s iconic smile and instantly-recognizable hair tufts. Perhaps he still would have used that design if he had gained a strength-boosting ability instead. However, the ability to transform objects was an entirely different power, that lent itself to deception and unpredictability, and demanded different design elements to match.

Taking cues from statues of tanuki, his costume consisted of a fairly simple samue paired with a bamboo hat in the style tanuki were typically depicted with. Accessory-wise, he had a booklet of blank sheets that, he was happy to find, were made of papyrus, just as requested - he had long since discovered his ability worked more easily on plant matter. A jug normally used for sake instead held water, for usage in disaster relief and rescue operations (This had come with a note from the support department stating that they were trying to find a way to compress the water to allow the jug to carry more without making it spray pressurized water everywhere when opened, and apologizing that, as it stood, the jug currently had a low capacity).

“Hey, Deku!” Uraraka said as he approached. “I like your outfit! Gives a real ‘Tanuki’ kinda vibe, is that because of your quirk?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I figured I should go with something matching what I can do, and since I’ve found my quirk is best able to transform leaves and such, a tanuki seemed like the obvious theme.”

“I sorta wish I’d drawn my costume better in my request form, I feel like it came out a bit puffier than I wanted. I’m worried about loose bits catching on stuff while I’m floating, you know?”

All Might cleared his throat, his voice carrying above the class’s chatter. “Nice styles, everyone! It's often said that ‘clothes make the man’, and I can see no better proof of that than all of you! You look every bit the part of true heroes!”

A heavily armored individual who Izuku quickly recognized as Iida raised his hand to put forth a question. “Sensei! I see you’ve brought us to one of the mock cities used during the practical portion of the entry exam! Will we be simulating a villain attack?”

“Right you are, young Iida, though perhaps not in the way you might think! You see, while villain cleanup is statistically seen most often in the open air, the vast majority of villainy is committed indoors! In our hero-saturated society, only the foolish or overconfident villains make open moves, while the intelligent ones stick to the shadows!”

The hero very unsubtly retrieved a folded piece of paper from one of his belt pouches and began to obviously read off of it. “For this exercise, you will be split into teams of two members each. These teams will be randomly selected for either a “villain” or “hero” role. The villainous team will have to defend a mock nuclear weapon they intend to deploy, while the heroic team must either secure the device or restrain all members of the villain team within the time limit. I will now select the teams via lottery.”

He looked around for wherever the team selection box had been placed.

“But sir,” Iida wondered, “Wouldn’t it make more sense to allow us to pick our own teams, rather than determine them by random chance?”

“Well,” Izuku replied, “professional heroes often have to work with other heroes they might not know very well, especially in situations where they might not have the luxury of time. I imagine this is to test our performance in a similar situation.”

“I see! Always developing our skills, to be expected of UA! I apologize for my interruption!”

“Now then!” All Might reached into the box and dug around. “For our first match, we have… The Villain team of Uraraka Ochako and Midoriya Izuku, against the Hero Team of Iida Tenya and Bakugou Katsuki!

* * *

Uraraka examined the prop nuclear device closely. “So we’ve got five minutes of setup time to ready our defenses and move the device to a location that suits our abilities, huh? It doesn’t seem like there are any penalties, so I’m pretty relieved. All Might really is as nice in person as he seems!”

“Uraraka.”

“Yeah, Deku?”

“Can you take the bomb and hide it wherever you think is best? I’m going to set up some tricks.”

* * *

“I’m happy I was selected to be on the hero team, It would be troubling to have to be a villain, even just for a training exercise. Our mobility will be an invaluable asset in locating and securing the device within the time limit.”

Bakugou ignored Iida, glaring at the building’s entrance. “If Deku wants to keep his quirk secret, I’ll just beat it out of him. I’ll  _ make _ him use it.”

All Might’s voice crackled over their communicators. “The Villain team’s five minutes of setup time is now complete, the Hero team may now enter the building.”

Iida turned to his partner. “We should advance carefully into the building, together. Uraraka’s quirk lets her attack from unexpected angles and Midoriya didn’t use his during Aizawa’s test - we can’t afford to let our guard down.”

Fuming, the explosive blond rushed into the building, letting off explosions to propel himself down the corridors. Iida attempted to follow, to no avail - the boy was long gone. The hallway was linear, however, and Iida continued until coming to the stairs to the second floor, where he finally accepted that Bakugou would not be waiting for him.

Taking a moment to check the map of the building's layout they had been given, he realized with a start that the map didn’t match up to the portion of the building he had seen. Had All Might given them false information as a way to show that you can’t always trust your sources as a hero? No - more likely that Midoriya's unknown quirk let him shift the building's layout to an extent. He resolved to advance more carefully, as if the building's layout had indeed been altered, it would be logical to funnel attackers into a trap.

He stopped at the stairway’s first landing - where, according to the map, there should have been a doorway to the second floor. Looking closely, the wall was slightly discolored in one area. Tapping it, it sounded hollow.

He spoke over the communicator they had been given “Bakugou, I’ve found what appears to be a doorway to the second floor that was blocked by the villains. I’m attempting to open it and proceed onwards.”

The wall crumbled easily enough - apparently, whatever Midoriya’s quirk was didn’t allow him to actually apply and dry mortar during the setup time, so the bricks were held together very loosely. He carefully moved through the newly-opened doorway, trying to move as quietly as possible, eventually coming to an open room with barricaded windows. The prop bomb sat inside, apparently unguarded.

_ Too easy, _ Iida thought,  _ this has to be a trap. _

He caught an irregularity in a sliver of light creeping in from behind a corner - the edge of the beam was slightly curved, as though someone were casting a shadow. Capture tape at the ready, he sprinted around the corner to catch the target off-guard and expertly wrapped the tape around… a wooden statue resembling Midoriya.

Something slammed into Iida from above.

* * *

“This is completely unmanly!”, Kirishima objected as he watched Uraraka drop on Iida. To his credit, Iida recovered relatively quickly, though he was now in a grappling contest that didn’t allow him to put his quirk to use.

“In the heat of battle, ambushes a valid and effective strategy! You should never pass up an advantage given to you!”

“Additionally,” Reiko pointed out, “That’s one of Midoriya’s decoy bombs. Iida would have been in greater trouble if he had assumed it to be the real one, and acted accordingly.”

* * *

Izuku lay in wait for Bakugou on the third floor. If he knew his bully, the irritable blond would’ve rushed in alone without backup, and was aiming for a fight rather than a win.

He tapped the “broadcast” button on his communicator. “Uraraka, what’s the situation with Iida?”

“I ambushed him and was able to use my quirk on him. He’s weightless and drifting, but I can’t get in close enough to restrain him.”

“Leave him - as long as one of us is up, we just need to play for time, and he’s not near the real bomb.”

“Got it.”

A roar of rage accompanied the sound of something being blasted across a room - likely another of his decoys. “Come out and fight me, worthless Deku!”

_ There’s Bakugou, right on schedule. _

“Why  _ should  _ I fight you, Kacchan?” he called from his hiding place. “You spent years calling me worthless because you thought I had no quirk. You’re just looking for another way you can say you’re better than me, now that I have one.”

Another blast from the neighboring room, this time accompanied by the sound of crumbling stone.

“You’re useless in a fight, Deku! You know you can’t win so all you can do is hide and sling insults!” 

“Your quirk wears you out as you use it, while mine doesn’t have the same raw combat power as yours. I have no incentive to fight on your terms.”

A third blast and the wall of the room Izuku was in disintegrated, showering him with bits of stone. Using the shower as a smokescreen, Bakugou lunged at the boy. “You should fight me,  _ Deku _ , because you’re shit at hiding, too.”

Acting on instinct from training, Izuku deftly evaded the blond’s right-handed swing before grabbing his arm and executing a textbook shoulder throw, slamming his tormentor to the ground.

“You open all your fights with a swing from your right hand, before even using your quirk! I’m no longer just a worthless Deku!”

Bakugou rolled to his feet before using his quirk to propel himself away from Izuku, adjusting his course in mid-air with another blast to launch himself back at his opponent from a different angle, capture tape ready. As he tried to wrap it around Izuku, the half-youkai grabbed it and turned it into inflexible metal, ruining the tape. Enraged, Bakugou slammed a foot into his stomach in response, taking advantage of the lapse in Izuku’s guard to intensify his assault.

* * *

“Uh, this is getting a little hard to watch, don’t you think?” Ashido Mina asked as the class watched Izuku get blasted through a wall.

“Whoever trained him did well teaching him to block, but that doesn't help too much against a quirk like Bakugou's,” Ojirou observed.

“On top of his obvious defensive training," Reiko countered, "Midoriya has displayed monstrous durability. I am curious as to whether Bakugou is even capable of inflicting any lasting damage.”

All Might shook his head. “Young Ashido is right - it would be unprofessional of me, as an educator, to allow this state of affairs to continue and risk serious injury in a training exercise.” He activated the mic that let him speak to the teams. “Young Bakugou! If you continue in this fashion I will have no choice but to halt the exercise and deem it a loss for you! Causing severe injury to a classmate during a training exercise is unacceptable for one seeking to become a hero!”

* * *

Bakugou had grabbed Izuku as part of following up his latest attack with a headbutt. It was a mistake. Izuku poured the contents of his water gourd over the blond's hands, soaking them and watering down the boy's nitroglycerin sweat. For good measure, he also kneed him in the stomach.

Losing his grip and staggering back, Bakugou aimed one gauntleted hand at Izuku, grabbing a pin on it with the other hand. “You think that I don't know that my quirk weakens as a fight goes on!? That was the first fucking thing I thought about with this design! These gauntlets have been storing my sweat this entire damn time, so I can still let out one big blast when my tanks are dry!”

Something that sounded like All Might’s voice crackled faintly from Bakugou’s earpiece. He ignored it. “Don’t worry - He won’t die if it doesn’t hit him!”

Izuku leapt forward, throwing himself to the floor and flattening himself as best as he was able.

Bakugou pulled the pin.

All-consuming fire engulfed the corridor, then, silence.

After a long moment, All Might spoke through the earpieces. “The Hero team has run out of time, rendering the Villain team the victors! Young Midoriya, please report to Recovery Girl to make sure that Bakugou has not inflicted any serious harm. And young Bakugou: I’ll be reporting this incident to Aizawa.”

* * *

Izuku returned from his checkup with Recovery Girl to see another match was in progress. Reiko was visible on the monitors, floating in the air and deftly dodging lasers and hurled acid from the team of Aoyama and Ashido. She was returning fire using a support item concealed in her costume’s sleeves - something capable of firing a barrage of what appeared to be fist-sized pellets of energy - while Yaoyorozu took advantage of the distraction to further hinder the hero team using flashbangs, nets, and other traps.

“Did I miss anything?” He asked Uraraka as he slid back into the class.

“Well, after our round, All Might clarified that excessive force was not permitted. Todoroki was on the hero team next and froze the entire building, and almost got in trouble until it was verified there would be no lasting harm. Yanagi also had a discussion with him about that weird support item of hers to establish that it was nonlethal. The villain teams have generally been playing to stall after seeing how effective it was in our fight. Was Yanagi correct about how you handled Bakugou’s attack, by the way? I wasn’t there to see you fight him.”

“Huh?”

“She said that you likely saw the attack would balloon out from its origin point and got yourself closer to him to put yourself in its blind spot - said she once did a similar thing when fighting an ice user.”

“Oh!” He hadn’t actually had time to think about it, but instead had just acted on impulse. “Uh, I didn’t actively think about it, but I felt like that was the right move.”

“The rest of the class also voted on who was the most effective. They decided on me, because Yaoyorozu argued that you shouldn’t have been antagonizing Bakugou when all you needed to do was stall for time, Bakugou was preoccupied with fighting you rather than the objective, and Iida was ultimately ineffective due to walking into our trap. A bunch of people took issue with that - they thought you were more effective due to making decoys of both the objective and us, and using your quirk creatively to make favorable engagements. I thought you deserved it, personally.”

The hero team finally slipped up, failing to take cover in time from another of Yaoyorozu’s flashbangs. While they were debilitated, she swept in and captured them.

“The Villain team wins by capture! Now, class, who do you think was MVP of this match?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cyclopean ex-villain Polyphemus (named, of course, for the Cyclops that captured Odysseus and his men in the Odyssey) has a quirk that he thought enhanced his eyesight. After being blinded, he found that it enhanced all of his senses and he had only ever focused on the eyesight. He's able to run his bar by using it to help him echolocate things.
> 
> Izuku's outfit incorporates bits of the eight traits typically associated with Tanuki in depictions of them:  
A Hat - obvious.  
Big Eyes - He provides this, no need for a mask.  
A sake bottle - He's filled it with water instead. Good for use in rescue operations, and he's underage anyways.  
A big tail - He doesn't naturally have one, and this would just give opponents something loose and easy to grab.  
Oversized testicles - This is 100% not that kind of fic.  
Promissory notes - made of papyrus for easier use of his ability, gives him fodder for transformations.  
A big belly - No.  
A Friendly Smile - he provides this, again.
> 
> The traditional form of combat in Gensokyo is a formalized dueling system known as the "Spell Card System". Fights under this system are typically done with nonlethal magical projectiles and make use of the fact that basically every youkai in Gensokyo is capable of flight via magic or otherwise. I instead chose to have Izuku learn close combat because floating through the sky playing keep-away with projectiles is a pretty effective combat strategy against most opponents, and a lot of villains in Hero Academia so far would have immense difficulty with such a tactic.


	7. Incomplete Plot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku meets one of the most important figures in Gensokyo, and the class takes a field trip for rescue training.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been fun watching my hits climb with each chapter, seeing how the average hits I get between each chapter climb higher and higher with each one posted. Is it because I'm showing I'm in for the long haul? Is it because people see it's got a decent number of hits and decide to try it themselves? Who knows, I sure don't!
> 
> All I know is that it's a delight to know someone out there's reading. Your comments are great for a similar reason - I love seeing that people are giving this a shot without knowing about Touhou (admittedly, while I've done my best to try to make this readable for people who don't know Touhou, I'm fairly sure it's impenetrable if you're coming from the opposite direction), or mentioning that they're picking up on cameos and such I sprinkle in, or putting together some of the puzzle pieces I've laid out, it's great. Rest assured that even if I don't directly respond to your comment, I appreciate it all the same!
> 
> It was hard figuring out a Touhou song to use as the title of this chapter - I almost went with "Peaceful", the Good Ending music from Lotus Land Story, just for irony's sake (considering it's the start of the USJ and all), but decided "Incomplete Plot" was a better match, considering the League clearly didn't plan for "whoops All Might's not on time".

“So, I got you something to celebrate yer makin’ it into UA. Sorry it’s a bit late, took me longer to do this than I remembered it taking.” Mamizou handed him a simple journal with an unmarked brown cover, grinning. “I specially treated it with magic, the same way people’d make their Youma Books back when it was in style.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow. “Youma Book?”

“It was popular for a while, back when literacy was on the rise. Some youkai on the verge of being forgotten realized, ‘hey, I can  _ use _ this’ and wrote a short book about how scary he was. About twenty years later, the story circulated enough that he just popped right back into existence, like he was never gone. This started a whole bunch of folks takin’ the chance to ensure their existence. Another youkai realized that the right rituals could confer the same resistance to harm that they had to the book itself and make their insurance policy that much more viable, and soon enough it was all the rage. I reckon that journal there’d survive pretty much anything short of a professional youkai hunter.

“I also got you this.” She said, pulling out another, much thicker, book, bound with fine leather and decorated with gold trim. A bookmark decorated with a cartoonish image of a tanuki was tucked into it.

Izuku took the book from her and opened it to the bookmarked page. He was greeted by a large, exquisitely-drawn portrait of Mamizou, accompanied by a large block of text that was simultaneously completely different from Japanese but also strangely familiar. Somehow, he just instinctively  _ knew _ what it said.

_ Futatsuiwa Mamizou _   
_ Ability: the ability to disguise. _   
_ Threat Level: High _ __   
_ Human Friendship Level: Very High _   
_ Main place of activity: Forest of Magic, Myouren Temple, etc. _

“It’s a specially commissioned copy of the Gensokyo Chronicle,” Mamizou said, “written in the Tanuki script. I had Nue use her Ability on it, so anyone else who happens to see you reading it won’t realize what it is. You should be able to bring both of these items with you when you transition between worlds, but if not, I know for a fact that Sumireko can do it, so I’ll have her bring them to you.”

A new voice cut into the conversation. “I certainly hope those precautionary measures will be enough, if you’re letting your child bring these items to the Outside World.”

The newcomer was a tall, stern-looking woman with yellow eyes and short blonde hair. She wore a white dress and a tabard decorated with intricate designs in white thread, as well as a two-tailed cap that was covered in paper seals. Nine bushy fox tails radiated out from the back of her dress, marking her as a Kitsune, and an incredibly powerful one, at that.

Izuku soon located the corresponding entry in the Gensokyo Chronicle - strangely, she was the only kitsune listed. Yakumo Ran, chief servant of Gensokyo’s creator Yukari.

Mamizou snarled. “What business do you have here, shikigami? Get lost while shopping for Yakumo’s dinner?”

“As I’ve said before,” replied Ran, “there is no need for hostility between us, Mamizou. With your lingering ties to the Outside World, it would be advantageous to have a good working relationship with myself and Lady Yukari.”

“The vampires have their own ties to the Outside World and don’t work with you,” Mamizou pointed out.

“The Scarlets only import items, and so their activities are generally permissible. Your recent activities, however, warrant closer scrutiny. Lady Yukari is currently particularly conscious of the situation in the Outside World, and things must be handled delicately.”

“I was living in the Outside World before you even bodysnatched that fox, I think I know how to handle things.”

Ran sighed. “Have it your way, then. Just remember that the utmost care needs to be taken for the time being. And you, little half-tanuki?”

Izuku stiffened under the fox’s gaze, suddenly acutely aware of how weak he was in comparison. “Y- yes?”

The fabric of reality  _ tore _ around the kitsune, opening into a void starred with unblinking eyes.

“Tread carefully.”

Just as abruptly as it had opened, the hole in reality snapped shut without a sound, taking Ran with it.

* * *

The next day, UA’s front gates were a bustle of activity. Reporters from seemingly every news agency in Japan swarmed the entrance, eager for any shred of information they could get about UA’s newest hire. Anyone who got even remotely close was assailed with queries.

“What kind of lessons do you have under All Might?”

“What were your thoughts seeing All Might at the front of the classroom?”

“What do you think of All Might as a teacher?”

Aizawa groaned internally as the crowd came into view. The press was irritating at the best of times, and the news that All Might was teaching at UA had apparently driven them into an absolute frenzy. They were even in the middle of questioning a random passerby who was trying fruitlessly to explain that he was neither faculty nor a student. The teacher took a deep breath before pushing into the crowd, making his way for the door.

“Are you a teacher at UA? Would you be able to give some insight as to All Mi-”

“All Might has the day off today. Please vacate the area, your presence here is obstructive.”

“Please, would you be able to get All Might to come out and answer some questions? It shouldn’t take up too much of your time to simply relay a request and- GAH!”

As the reporter tailed Aizawa, they drew too close to UA’s entrance gate, which let out a loud ‘BEEP’ before metal pillars shot up to block the entrance. He allowed himself a moment of satisfaction at the muffled, indignant shouts of the reporters before proceeding into the school building.

* * *

Aizawa cleared his throat as he stood at the front of the class, flipping through All Might’s notes from the previous day. “I hope you’ve all recovered from yesterday’s Battle Trial. Some of you may have noticed that one of your classmates is not present - Bakugou continued using excessive force despite a warning and has received a week’s suspension accordingly. He will be back in time for the sports festival.”

A murmur ran through the class. Iida raised his hand. “Sir, would this not prove too damaging to Bakugou’s hero education? A school as demanding as UA can’t afford to lose any time with its students, after all.”

“If Bakugou shows that he is unable to keep up upon his return, then I will not hesitate to expel him. The same goes for if he continues to behave quite so violently towards his classmates, and doubly so if he continues to disregard direct instructions. Now that that’s out of the way, I’m sorry to have to do this…”

The entire class shifted nervously.

“...You need to pick a Class President. Doesn’t matter to me how you actually decide, just select somebody by the end of the class period.”

Aizawa then grabbed his yellow sleeping bag from one of his desk drawers and slipped into it, disappearing below the desk.

The class erupted in shouts declaring candidacy. Iida’s voice cut above all the rest.

“Silence, everyone! Just because you want to do it doesn’t mean you’re the right choice for the job! This title implicitly requires the respect of one’s classmates, so the only logical choice is to hold a democratic election for the position!”

“We’re still less than a week into school - it hasn’t really been long enough for us to have developed any trust in each other and everyone’s just going to vote for themselves,” Tsuyu pointed out.

“Precisely my point! Anyone who is able to rally multiple supporters this early into the term will obviously be the correct choice for president!”

Satisfied with his logic, a list of 1-A students was quickly thrown up on the blackboard and a vote taken.

* * *

“I don’t understand how I managed to get three votes!” Izuku lamented over his lunch.

“I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” Uraraka encouraged, talking through a mouthful of rice.

Iida paused to swallow a mouthful of curry before speaking “Indeed. I voted for you because your performance in the Battle Trial demonstrated remarkable judgment. I have faith you'll rise to the task.”

“But didn’t you want to be class president yourself, Iida?” She wondered aloud. “You’ve definitely got the look for it.”

“As I said in class, desire for the role does not itself indicate the ability to perform the task. I would have betrayed my principles had I voted for myself when I believed someone else was the better choice.”

“Man, you’re always so upstanding and stuff! Are you from some high-class family?”

Iida sheepishly lowered his head towards his food. “I don’t like calling attention to it, but yes, I’m from a long line of heroes. Have either of you heard of the Turbo Hero, Ingenium?”

Izuku’s eyes lit up. “Of course I’ve heard of Ingenium! He’s super-popular and has one of the larger agencies in Tokyo!”

Izuku figured it was polite not to mention that Ingenium also had a supposed ‘curse’ on him, due to his Hero Office - it had been originally purchased by a wealthy businessman who was found to be a Vigilante when he was killed fighting the villain Hellforge. After that, it had been purchased by the Paladin Hero, Idealist, who enjoyed a rapid rise in the hero rankings until a sudden, completely inexplicable disappearance. The building had then remained vacant for months until Ingenium purchased it.

“That’s correct,” Iida said, smiling proudly. “He’s my older brother, and a beloved Pro Hero who guides the people as a beacon! I aspire to follow in his footsteps. However, I’m very aware that I’ve only just begun my journey. It’s too early for me to take a leadership position.”

Uraraka set down her empty bowl, having devoured the remainder of her rice while he was talking. “You know, Iida, I think that’s the first time I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you smiling!”

He was visibly taken aback. “What? I smile all the time!”

“You sa-”

She was suddenly cut off by an earsplitting wailing, that paused briefly to allow a robotic voice to speak:

“ _ A Level 3 Security Breach has occurred. All students, please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion. _ ”

The students in the lunchroom proceeded to begin the evacuation in anything but an orderly fashion, stampeding for the exit. A random male student paused in his escape to shout at the group, “What are you guys doing just sitting there? A Level 3 Breach means someone’s infiltrated the school grounds! We gotta get out of here, quick!”

* * *

Reiko floated aimlessly above the crushing herd of students, idly snacking on a skewer of grilled mushrooms as she watched the frenzied withdrawal. She’d be lying to herself if she said she didn’t feel a bit of anger towards how quickly the situation had devolved.

_ So quick to go into a panic. They say they want to be heroes? _

Glancing towards the window, she saw Present Mic and Eraserhead out front, arguing fruitlessly with the reporter horde, which had somehow managed to bypass the gates.

She recognized the heads of some of her classmates in the crowd, being pushed along by the wave of human bodies. The one with the glasses - Iida… something? - was reaching for the girl with the antigravity quirk. They managed to touch, and Iida was able to dislodge himself from the crowd and shove off the wall, propelling himself to the exit sign before beginning to yell about keeping calm.

Reiko finished her mushrooms, turned, and drifted away.

* * *

Principal Nezu and several other members of UA Staff surveyed the remains of the UA Entrance Gate. It was immediately obvious how the reporters had been able to breach UA’s security and gain entrance to the grounds - what was left could only be called a “gate” in the loosest sense of the word. The reinforced metal pillars that had formed the security barrier were a complete write-off, reduced to dust by someone’s quirk.

More distressingly, whoever had destroyed the gate had done so quickly enough that the reporters hadn’t been able to give a description.

Nezu spoke after a moment. “No ordinary reporter could have done this. And even if they  _ could _ , their agency would have never allowed it because of legal liability. This was meant to send a message.”

* * *

Aizawa stood at the front of the classroom the next day. “For today’s Foundational Heroics lesson, we’ll be studying the skills used by Heroes when responding to disasters. As such, we will be visiting an external training facility with areas set up to simulate various rescue conditions. Some of your costumes may not have been designed with rescue in mind, so for today’s lesson it’s entirely your own judgment whether or not to wear them. Once you’re ready, gather in front of the school to board the buses to the training site.”

As Aizawa was about to leave the classroom, Izuku spoke up. “Um, sir? I was wondering if it would be possible for me to nominate Iida as the Class President instead of me. He displayed quick thinking and effective judgment during the security breach yesterday, and I, uh, sorta don’treallywanttobethepresidentanyways…” the last words came out as a sheepish mumble.

The teacher sighed. “This sort of thing really should have been decided yesterday, but I’ll get you the paperwork to make the change of role official. Now, if there are no more questions, hurry up and get ready.”

* * *

The class soon piled into the buses to take them to the Rescue Trial facility. Iida, pleased with his new leadership position, eagerly took the reigns and guided the boarding of the bus to ensure maximum efficiency when being seated.

He was, of course, crushed when the bus’s seating layout rendered his plans moot, with two long rows of seats facing the vehicle’s central axis rather than the typical aisles. The rest of the class happily chatted as they journeyed to their destination.

“Say, Midoriya,” said Tsuyu. “I always like to say what’s on my mind. I apologize if this is a bit blunt, but your quirk has a lot of similarities in usage with Yaoyorozu’s - you should compare notes sometime.”

Kirishima leapt into the conversation. “Hold on, Asui -”

“Please, call me Tsuyu.”

“- their powers seem similar on the surface, but Midoriya needs something else to work with first, while Yaoyorozu can create what she needs herself! We can’t assume that something that works for one of them will work for the other!”

“Besides,” Reiko added, staring directly at Izuku, “Yaoyorozu uses her own body to create items, and has limits on how much she can viably create. Midoriya has shown no sign of Quirk Exhaustion when using his ability so far.”

Mina joined in the chatter “We’ve really got a lot of heroic-type quirks, huh? You know, the ones that are both flashy and strong! Kirishima’s got that red lightning and that all-around boost that comes with breaking his hardening, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu both make things in a fancy way, Yanagi’s got her-”

“My quirk is just the floating.”

“Oh, right, the projectiles are from some support item.”

“There’s also Bakugou,” Tsuyu pointed out, “But his personality’s bad. Even if he is able to stay in the heroics course I don’t see him being very popular as a hero.”

Aizawa poked his head out from behind his headrest in the front. “Settle down, we’re almost there.”

* * *

The training facility was absolutely tremendous, as they had come to expect of anything UA was associated with. The unmistakable astronaut-esque figure of Thirteen, the Space Hero, met the class at the entrance. Uraraka was visibly straining to contain herself from what Izuku assumed was an outburst of pure joy, like he himself had when he met… well, just about any hero, really.

“This,” said Thirteen, “Is a practical training area I created to simulate all kinds of accidents and disasters, ranging from floods and downpours to landslides and fires. I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short!”

Aizawa pulled Thirteen aside for a moment to speak privately, out of the class’s earshot. “Say, Thirteen, where’s All Might? He was supposed to meet us here for this class.”

“From what I understand,” she said, holding up three fingers, “he took some detours while commuting to do Hero work and ran himself out of time. He’s resting in the staff room.”

“Ugh, he’s completely irrational. Well, let’s go with the backup plan.”

The two pros returned to the waiting class.

“Before we begin,” started Thirteen, “I just want to say a few things first. I’m sure most of you are aware, but my Quirk is called Black Hole. It generates a vortex that destroys anything sucked into it.”

Uraraka nodded eagerly. “Yeah! It’s a great Quirk that’s perfect for rescue situations!”

“It could also easily kill people, however. And the Quirks of everyone else here have the same potential. Don’t ever forget that each one of you could kill someone with a single wrong move.”

Izuku noticed Reiko shift her posture out of the corner of his eye, her eyes darting around almost nervously.

“Aizawa’s assessment test taught you your quirks’ potentials, and All Might’s battle trial taught you the dangers of using your quirks against others. My hope is that this lesson will give you a third point of view, and reinforce that your quirks do not exist to hurt others, but rather are a means to allow you to help others!”

The Space Hero took a bow. “That’s all I have to say! My thanks to you for listening patiently!”

Aizawa straightened his posture and walked to the front of the class. “Now then, to begin the day’s lesson we’ll…”

Something behind him, down in the USJ’s main plaza, got his attention, and he turned to it. Suddenly, he whirled back towards the class. Izuku felt a small amount of fear. “Everyone stay together! Thirteen! Protect the students!”

A swirling vortex of black mist suddenly burst into existence in the middle of the plaza, spewing forth a horde of villains. Last out of the gate were a lanky man with greyish-blue hair and disembodied hands clinging to him, and a large, muscular man visibly straining with effort from carrying a large sack filled with a number of large round objects. He set the bag to the ground delicately before hastily moving away from it, joining the larger crowd of thugs.

“Is this like the entry exam?” wondered Kirishima.

“Don’t move!” Commanded Aizawa. “Those are Villains!”

The mist coalesced into a tall figure who appeared to be made of black fog squeezed into a suit. The hand-covered man addressed him in a raspy voice, “Man, Kurogiri, what a disappointment… the raid boss didn’t even spawn after we went to all the effort of getting a party together.”

The mistman replied calmly, “The curriculum we acquired said that All Might would be here. Perhaps he’s running a bit late?”

“Good point. Maybe he’ll show up if we kill the adds first.”

Aizawa flipped his goggles down over his eyes and readied his capture weapon. “Thirteen, try to evacuate the students and get in contact with UA! Kaminari, try to use your Quirk to get a signal out!”

“You can’t mean to fight them alone!” Izuku shouted, “your fighting style focuses on erasure and capture of a single target! Even if you can suppress all their quirks, there’s too many of them!”

He called back as he leapt into action, “It’s illogical to rely on only one tactic as a Hero. Thirteen! I’m counting on you!”

A villain with large, spiny forearms grinned as Aizawa came hurtling in, throwing his arms up in a defensive stance as the spikes enlarged. Just as quickly, the spikes shrank to their original size, leaving a massive hole in his guard through which the hero punched him in the face, laying him out. Without even wasting a second, he whipped around and swept the legs out from under the large, muscular man who had been carrying the bag, who toppled over onto a woman who was busy wondering why her hair was no longer prehensile.

A huge man with six arms and three torsos attached to a single head laughed at his allies’ misfortune. “Morons! That’s Eraserhead! He erases your Quirks just by looking at you! But you can’t erase mutation quirks like mine, huh, little Hero?”

Aizawa didn’t even bother with a response as he slammed an elbow into the giant’s face, blinding him for the brief moment it took to wrap his capture weapon around the man’s legs and fling him into a group of villains who were standing too close to each other.

Thirteen finally gave up on contacting UA through whatever jammer the villains had in place. “We need to evacuate, now!”

In a flash, Kurogiri was between the class and the USJ’s exit. “Greetings. My apologies for the late introduction, but we are the League of Villains. Might any of you happen to know the location of All Might?”

Kirishima leapt from the crowd, red electricity dancing over a hardened arm as he delivered a massive blow to Kurogiri’s torso. “Hah! Bet you didn’t think I’d be able to beat you down before you could react!”

The man soon reformed. “That was rather dangerous. I suppose you can’t be disregarded even if you are mere students. After all, you’re attending the most highly-regarded school in the world of heroics. I suppose there’s no choice but to scatter you.”

Kurogiri’s mist swept over the class, engulfing them and filling the world with darkness. Izuku vaguely sensed somebody’s fear spike much higher than anyone else in the class.

* * *

The mist cleared from Izuku’s vision before he knew it, leaving him in the middle of a ruined city. He couldn’t see any other classmates just yet, but he could see a few villains hunting around nearby. He quickly ducked behind a piece of rubble.

_ How is this even happening? A Villain with a warp quirk is here with an alliance aiming to take All Might’s head!? _

The rock he was hiding behind suddenly shifted, lifting into the air to join the leg of an enormous humanoid mass of stone.

“Hey, kid,” A voice like grinding boulders rumbled out. “Boss says I’m supposed to squish anyone I find like a bug. Nothing personal, you understand.”

As the leg began its descent, something wrapped around Izuku’s waist and pulled him to safety inside a nearby building.

“Oh, come on! I’m too big to fit in there!” Whined the stone golem. “Guess I’ve just gotta smash it, then.”

The building shook from an impact, but remained standing. “Blasted building codes. Give me a second, okay? Stay right there, please!”

Izuku looked to his savior to find that it was Tokoyami, who had apparently sent Dark Shadow out to snatch him. “Thanks.”

The raven-headed boy nodded. “Don’t mention it, Midoriya. The lords of shadow saw fit to ally us in this circumstance, and sent us to the same location. The forces of Makai shall not best us today.”

Izuku paused for a moment at Tokoyami’s strange speech patterns, eventually deciding to put it aside and focus on escaping the current crisis. “Sure. So, first off we need to see if anyone else was sent to this area. If so we need to join forces with them so we can take down that giant guy - he’s too dangerous a threat to let him follow us. Currently, my plan to take him down is…”

* * *

“Shigaraki, if we let Eraserhead keep rampaging through our forces we won’t have the combat strength to take on All Might.” Kurogiri observed as he returned to the villain’s side.

Shigaraki groaned. “Fiiiine. It’s about time for our Summoner to earn her keep anyways. How long are you going to sleep?” He firmly grasped the cloth of the bag, which turned to dust in his hands.

Five large orbs rolled a short distance before coming to a halt. They appeared to be predominantly made of brass, each one bearing large cracks that had been filled in with a glowing purple substance, in an effect reminiscent of pottery repaired via kintsugi. After a moment, the orbs floated into the air, taking a flat, pentagon-shaped formation parallel to the ground. Lightning arced from each of the orbs to a central point on the ground, and in defiance of all rules governing electrical flow, the crackling electricity proceeded to take the shape of the outline of a woman dressed in traditional clothing. Suddenly, the orbs snapped open, revealing their nature as large, red eyes.

They fixated on Aizawa, who felt a chill down his spine despite over a decade of heroics experience. There was no emotion in those eyes other than pure, unfettered hatred. He’d seen less hate in the eyes of villains that he’d personally put behind bars. In stark contrast to her eyes, however, the lightning-woman seemed almost smug, as difficult as it was to make out her facial expression in the lines of shifting electricity. The eyes narrowed, as if daring him to make a move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can fairly confidently say I doubt the readers familiar with Touhou expected _that_ character to make an appearance.  
No, I don't mean Ran.


	8. Angel's Legend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The USJ incident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mentioned in Chapter 3's notes that I almost used a boss theme's name for it before deciding otherwise. So, here we are - the first chapter I've named for a boss theme, named for - what else - YuugenMagan's theme from Highly Responsive to Prayers.
> 
> Wow, 100 kudos! To think I would've been happy with just that many hits. You guys are great.
> 
> Some of my usual formatting might be slightly off, my home internet is out so I'm posting this from my phone. I told myself I'd get this chapter up, and I will, dangit.

Aizawa rushed forward, analyzing the electric villain for weaknesses as he moved, keeping his eyes on her. The obvious mutation aspects of her Quirk wouldn’t be negated, obviously, but if he was lucky the electricity was an emitter, and otherwise he could at least be secure knowing that any range advantage her quirk afforded her was negated.

The lightning failed to subside.  _ Damn it, the electricity’s part of the mutation somehow. Can’t let the capture weapon touch that. In that case, the eyes are the obvi- _

A beam lanced out from the closest eye, raking across the ground and forcing him to make a clumsy dive to the side in order to narrowly dodge it. Years of back-alley brawling had taught him well, however, and he was able to convert the hasty maneuver into a roll, keeping himself in motion as two of the other eyes barraged the spot he had just left with bolts of plasma.

Eyes weren’t using a quirk to attack, then. Perhaps some type of support drones and a mutation quirk that gave them a body of electricity? It didn't change the plan either way - the eyes were the only obvious target, and seemed to be sustaining the electrical apparition. The issue was just how to get in when he couldn't negate the enemy's ranged attacks. With five overlapping fields of fire, it was like fighting a more dangerous version of Snipe.

The villain let loose another energy barrage, sweeping another beam across with one eye to force Aizawa to keep his distance as he weaved around the projectiles. Making his way over to the fountain, he ducked behind it, taking a moment to catch his breath from the relentless assault.

He poked his head out from cover for just a moment to check on the villain. Nearly immediately, another barrage forced him back down, but a single glance was enough for his purposes - she hadn’t moved. More importantly, the laser from earlier hadn’t left any appreciable damage on the ground.

He had a plan.

* * *

Shigaraki watched with satisfaction as the lightning villain they had brought along easily forced Eraserhead on the defensive.

“So the thing with metagames is they don’t always shift based on what’s OP, they also shift based on what’s popular, you know? All Might’s build has influenced a wave of imitators and such. And this means that in turn, some things just slip under the radar because they’re not commonly used. Summoner builds, for instance - nobody uses those, so when someone  _ does _ actually roll one it catches everyone off-guard.”

The warp villain decided to humor the lanky villain’s gaming analogies, seeing as their help had the situation well under control. He kept an eye on the door anyways, in case Thirteen tried to make a break for it. “That one mountain rescue team has someone whose Quirk gives them summoned minions.”

“One off-meta build doesn’t eliminate my point, and if I’m thinking of the same team they’ve actually caught a number of villains off-guard with those things, which actually reinforces what I’m saying.”

Shigaraki smiled behind the hand covering his face. “Besides, our Summoner’s a special case anyways. Her Summons are top tier.”

As they were talking, Eraserhead had managed to pop out of cover long enough to wrap his capture weapon around the top of the fountain and break the ornamental structure off of it, giving him a large chunk of stone. Bracing it ahead of him as a shield, he sprinted into the villain’s barrage before flinging it ahead to screen for a kick to the nearest eye.

* * *

Pain shot up Aizawa’s leg. Whatever material the “eyes” were made of, it was like kicking solid stone, and the one he had struck hadn’t even budged. The other eyes turned to look at him as he kicked off of the eye, trying to reopen some distance before they fired.

The lightning villain had no intentions of letting him escape, however, and followed him, matching the speed of his kickoff perfectly. Mockingly, she even pantomimed the action of walking as she hovered through the air. As he landed, she reached out with one hand and grabbed him by the neck, hoisting him into the air.

Agony coursed through him as electricity danced over his skin. Dimly, he recognized her grabbing his goggles and tearing them from his head, flinging them aside carelessly before running her free hand along his cheek in a twisted imitation of a caress. More electricity crackled across his cheeks and eyes as he struggled against the ongoing electrocution to do something, anything.

An errant muscle spasm, forced by the current flowing through him, caused him to kick out, his leg aimed directly for her stomach.

It passed through to no effect other than further wracking his body with electricity.

One-handed, almost casually, the villain flung Aizawa back towards the fountain, and he struck the ground in a crumpled heap.

Then, she fired another barrage.

* * *

The sound of a building crumbling to rubble echoed through the Ruins Zone.

“Really, at this point I’m honestly just impressed that UA bothered to build all these buildings to code, you know?” The massive stone golem of a villain called out. “Like, this area’s meant to be simulating a destroyed city for rescue purposes, they could’ve just made sure the things stayed standing on their own and called it good enough.”

_ Is this guy going to stop talking at some point? _ Izuku mouthed to Tokoyami.

The bird-headed boy just shrugged.

“I sort of wish they had called in some people to smash this place up for them. Might’ve actually kept me off the streets if they had gone and built a fake city and then said ‘hey, we need to simulate the aftermath of a villain attack. People with destructive quirks, have at it - you’ve got twenty minutes, we’ll pay you.’ Actually, that’s a good idea for a business, making destroyed cities for hero schools. Maybe I should try that once I get paid for this job. Eh, who am I kidding, society’s probably gonna collapse when we kill All Might.”

Another impact rang out through the streets of the ruins as the villain threw his weight against another building. This time, though, it was accompanied by a yell.

"Gah, what the hell? Acid!?"

Izuku poked his head out from the rubble he and Tokoyami were hiding behind to see Ashido Mina sailing through the air, showering the villain's stone body with acid from one hand while propelling herself with spray from the other. Uraraka was clinging to one leg, visibly straining to resist nausea.

"Uraraka and Ashido are out there, we need to help them!"

Tokoyami nodded. "Their aid will prove invaluable if we hope to vanquish that earthen entity. Indeed, did your plan not require a distraction?"

Izuku rushed out from cover, Dark Shadow swooping out alongside him. The villainous stone golem took notice of the sudden movement, turning to attack them as they approached. "Ah, more scurrying insects! I'm slightly suspect of UA's quality, now - I clearly have a range and power advantage, one would suppose that the reasonable option is to simply escape!"

A titanic arm slammed down, forcing Izuku and the sentient quirk to split up from each other as they continued their approach.

"One wrong move and you guys will die! Why throw away your lives recklessly? You're still in High School, why does society think throwing children into heroics is a good ide- argh, my back!"

The stone golem's attention focused on the running students, he had failed to keep an eye on the airborne duo, who had now managed to melt a hole in his stone armor with acid. As the gargantuan figure recoiled in pain, Izuku reached its leg and let his Ability flow into it, turning the limb into pumice, which quickly crumbled under the giant's weight. As it fell, Dark Shadow snatched the villain from the hole in its back.

"Okay, that was actually pretty cool," the villain admitted as the shadowy quirk held him in its grasp.

Tokoyami groaned. "Will you shut up already?"

* * *

Kirishima sent the final villain sprawling with a punch to the gut, powering through the cloak of flame the man had been using.

“I think that's everyone for my end. Iida, how are you doing on your end?”

The heavy whack of Iida's armor against flesh resounded from the other side of a massive bonfire.

“I've nearly finished over here, too. Whatever nefarious aim these villains had in mind, they were ill-prepared to fulfill their goals.”

Another thud, and, as if on cue, the fires of the Conflagration Zone died out, leaving the pair of trainee heroes standing in a burnt-out replica city. Both of them were surrounded by beaten villains.

One of the thugs groaned and rolled over, spitting some loose teeth onto the ground. “Ha! You think we're not ready? Handsy and Misty could've brought only that brute of theirs and they'd still be overprepared. I'm just here for an easy payday after that  _ thing _ kills All Might for us!”

A punch to the face from Kirishima knocked the thug out.

“This is bad, man. If they have something they think can kill All Might, it’s definitely a serious threat to us. It’s not terribly manly, but I think you should run for help.”

“But-”

“You’re the fastest one in the class and that warping villain isn’t watching us, this is the best opportunity we’re gonna get.”

“We’re not even close to the entrance! The Conflagration Zone is on the total opposite side of the USJ!”

“Who said anything about going out the door?” Kirishima held up a hardened arm, crackling with red energy. “I figured this out an offensive application of my Quirk a week before the entrance exam. I think it works like an atom bomb - splitting bonds to release energy. The backlash sucks, but I think a full-power punch will be able to breach the wall.”

He was surprised at how easily the lie spilled from his mouth.

He wound up for a punch, letting One For All flow through his arm, grasping the feeling All Might had told him to grasp.

The wall was obliterated, leaving a large hole to the outside. Cracks spread up his Hardening, dripping blood as pain blossomed through his arm.

"Kirishima! Are you okay after that?"

"This is nothing, go!"

After a moment's hesitation, Iida nodded, running out the new exit.

Kouda ran up, following a rat. “ _ I found the control room for the area and turned off the fire simulation, _ ” he quickly signed.

Kirishima gave a sheepish, apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry, man, I don't know sign language."

* * *

"Satou's done, guys!" Sero called, "He overused his quirk!"

Puddlejumper leapt out of an uncovered pool, knife gleaming as he lunged for the sugar-eater. Ojiro's tail intercepted the villain mid-flight, knocking him back with a distinct cracking noise. Laughing, the villain disappeared back into the water.

"There's too much water here, we need to get out of the area or this guy will never stop harassing us! Shouji, does it sound like there's anyone else out there?"

The ears disappeared from the huge boy's tentacles. "It's hard to tell with all the wind and rainfall, but I didn't hear anything that sounded like anyone else, classmate or villain."

"Alright then, we try to find our way out of here, and be careful of that guy's ambushes."

* * *

Kaminari stood there, a dazed look on his face as Jirou and Yaoyorozu tied up the unconscious villain.

"Well, we took down that electric guy but now our antenna's out of commission," Jirou muttered. "You think you can get anything, Yaoyorozu?"

The taller woman frowned at a device she had made. "I'm afraid whoever or whatever was jamming the signal appears to still be active - we just have to hope someone runs for help, I guess. This plateau should be fairly defensible between our quirks, especially once Kaminari recovers. It might be a good idea to dig in here, for the time being."

* * *

"Come on, Aoyama! We can't stay on this boat forever!"

The blond gave no response from inside the cabin. Hagakure turned to her companion.

"It's no use Tsuyu, he's completely locked up. Think we can bust down the door and just fling him to shore?"

One of the villains in the water cried out, "Aw, to hell with caution!" and hurled a blade of water at the ship, slicing it in half. Aoyama suddenly burst from the door, ran to the railing, and leapt off, using his laser to launch himself through the air, a look of utter terror on his face.

"Hey, wait, that's not the right direction for the plaza! Tsuyu, carry me, it'll be really obvious where I am in the water."

* * *

"This changes nothing, brat," one of the defeated villains spat at Todoroki through chattering teeth, his body firmly trapped in a glacier. "Your little ice trick means nothing to our trump card."

"What trump card? Who are you working with?"

"I'm not afraid of you. You're a hero, you won't kill me."

"Endeavor regularly maims his victims and nothing comes of it. Frostbite's an awful thing to experience."

The ice encasing the villain crept closer to his neck.

"Okay, okay, I'll talk! Won't matter anyways. I don't know their names, but hands and mist are the main leaders, they sent out a call for hired muscle. They're working with a third person, bat-winged girl with long blond hair and a red star tattooed on her cheek. Long pointy ears too. She's in some kinda weird cult, says she needs to gather souls for her master. Gave them this weird lightning creature she claims can kill All Might. I just came along for an easy payday if this works, I've got five kids to feed!"

* * *

Shigaraki scratched at his throat impatiently and with just a hint of nervousness. “Kurogiri, what's our Summon doing? It's just been standing there and occasionally casting ball lightning since Thirteen protected Eraserhead. It hasn't even used any beams. Is it out of spell slots?”

“If I had to guess, she's toying with her.”

“I don't think Eraserhead's even dead,” the hand-covered villain muttered. “I think he twitched a bit earlier. Should've brought Nomu, he wouldn't have toyed around with the heroes like this.”

A villain ran up, covered in soot. “Bad news, boss - one of the brats broke a hole in the building with some crazy punch and sent one of his buddies running to UA for help.”

Shigaraki's eye twitched. “You let one of them get away?”

“It- it wasn’t my fault! Burnout was supposed to shift the fires so we could cut them off from each other! But he got knocked out immediately so the whole plan fell apart before I could do anyth-”

Shigaraki’s hand tightened around the hapless thug’s throat. “Our plan relied on catching UA off-guard! If they throw Pro after Pro at us we’re done for. We get the bad ending.”

The thug’s skin began to crack and dry up, falling away from his neck in flaky chunks. Shigaraki ignored his shrieks of pain as he continued, “Kurogiri! Get ready to warp us out of here before we get a game over.”

He dropped the dead thug and paused for a moment, an ominous smile spreading across his face. “Oh, and Summon?”

One of the lightning villain’s hate-filled eyes swiveled to focus on Shigaraki. The apparition herself made no moves, though she ceased sending her lazy projectile volleys at Thirteen.

“Take the Symbol of Peace’s pride down a notch before we leave.”

She turned and began to float away.

* * *

_ Why’d she stop firing? _ Thirteen wondered, capping her suit’s fingertips now that she didn’t need to intercept any more projectiles.

The leader’s command to retreat had been a massive relief, but his instructions to the so-called “summon” indicated he still wanted to inflict harm. Thirteen was the only one in the plaza, it would take too long to-

The villain was heading towards the Flood Zone.

The villain, who was  _ made of electricity _ , was heading towards a body of water that presumably had students in it.

Thirteen ran like her life depended on it, mentally cursing her suit’s design - it was made for rescue situations, mobility hadn’t been as much of a concern as protection when designing it.

Almost impossibly quickly, one of the villain’s eyes swiveled and fixed a baleful glare on the Space Hero before firing a beam, ripping through her stomach and tearing apart both flesh and armored space suit like tissue paper. As the hero fell, the electrical villain’s body turned and flew to her foe, ready to follow up on the opening.

A  _ squish _ rang out, and the villain stopped.

Midoriya Izuku had seemingly come out of nowhere and driven a hand, open in a spear-hand strike, directly into one of the villain’s eyes, sinking deep into the orb, which now dripped black liquid.

* * *

In an instant, a series of emotions flashed across the four unharmed eyes.

Pain and Surprise.

Confusion.

Realization.

Then, back to pure, all-consuming Hatred.

Before Izuku could pull his hand out, the injured eye clamped shut, gripping his wrist firmly with its eyelids in an attempt to stop him from fleeing. In unison, the remaining eyes fired beams.

At that same moment, Dark Shadow slammed into Izuku, knocking him out of their path.

Before the eyes could recover and fire again, Izuku kicked the injured eye as hard as he could, wrenching his hand free as it flinched.

The body of lightning flickered in and out of existence as he fell to the ground, the eye he wounded blinking rapidly as though trying to flush an irritant. After a moment, the figure stabilized, holding a hand to one of her face's non-existent eyes. Where previously the lightning forming her body had been tightly controlled, now it freely arced off of her, scorching the earth. One of the eyes focused on his left leg, its iris turning blue.

She lunged for Izuku with her free hand, and, drawing on months of training in the Myouren Temple's yard, he moved to dodge the untrained movement.

His leg, heavy and numb, refused to move at his command.

Her hand tightened around his neck, sending electricity coursing through him.

Izuku had long since noticed the improved durability Sumireko had mentioned being half youkai would impart on him. Kacchan's explosions had still stung, but they had felt muffled, as though he was attempting to blast through layers of padding.

This, however? This ignored that defense like it was never there, sending searing pain through his body from an instant of contact.

The monster immediately threw him as hard as she could, gliding through the air after him to deliver a follow-up kick to his gut the second he landed. Dropping her hand from her face, she reached for his lifeline amulet before suddenly stopping at a  **CRACK ** sound. In slow motion, both Izuku and the lightning monster watched a small shard of glowing purple crystal fall from above.

Slowly, the eyes swiveled away from Izuku to the injured one, which Kirishima had just struck with an enhanced punch. Blood dripped from each of his limbs, which bore heavy cracks - any more attacks like that and his Hardening wouldn't be able to take the recoil.

Enraged, the electrical being grabbed both of the students, hauling them into the air.

A resounding  **BOOM** echoed from the entrance of the USJ as it vanished in a cloud of concrete dust. One of the heavy metal doors flew through the electrical apparition, disrupting it for an instant and letting Izuku and Kirishima tumble gracelessly to the ground.

"HAVE NO FEAR…" called an unmistakable voice.

"...FOR I AM HERE."

All Might wasn't smiling.

* * *

The moment the words "Villain attack at the USJ" had left young Iida's mouth, All Might had already left the teacher's lounge, throwing everything he had into reaching the place in time to save the students. As he soared through the sky, he cursed the time limit on his powers, which stopped him from being able to both save people and still fulfill his duties as a teacher. Once, he would have been able to keep the whole of Musutafu safe and teach a class at the same time, whizzing out the window to save people before returning barely a moment after he had left.

Okay, maybe that last part was exaggerating a little.

His stomach wound gave a pang of pain and he coughed up a small amount of blood. Just another reminder of how weak he'd grown after defeating All For One. He'd need to make this quick.

Landing directly at the gates of the USJ (he was always proud of his ability to land his jumps exactly on-target), he clenched a fist and blew through the doors, bellowing out his iconic line as he did so.

The sight before him hammered in how badly he had failed. Eraserhead lay unmoving on the ground of the plaza, and Thirteen had apparently been dragged to his side by young Tokoyami. Uraraka and Ashido were attempting to provide medical care to the best of their ability despite having no equipment.

Elsewhere, an imposing villain made of electricity was hovered above young Midoriya and his successor, young Kirishima. Both boys appeared to be injured, though they were at least visibly recovering.

Five orbs floated above the villain. Four of them rotated to face him, revealing themselves to be eyes glaring at him with undiluted hate and anger. The last one had apparently been damaged already - it was tightly shut, displaying a material resembling brass and crisscrossed with cracks filled in with a glowing purple material. Black blood dripped from it slowly, evaporating quickly after striking the ground.

Off to the side, a villain covered in hands called out, "Oh, what a surprise, the DPS ran off ahead of the group. Summon, that's our target. Kill him."

Neither All Might nor the electric villain needed to be told twice - both of them exploded into motion.

Their speed was no comparison - in the brief instant it took the villain and her eyes to get halfway to the entrance, the number one hero had collected the teachers and students and deposited them at the doorway, apparently struck the hand-covered leader (judging by the leader suddenly stumbling and the hand on his face falling off), and finally met the lightning apparition in the middle, striking her injured eye with a heavy blow that slightly pushed it back and swinging another strike at one of the open eyes.

Just before the second attack connected, the eye shut and his arm passed right through the sphere.

Shigaraki reached down and picked up the fallen hand. “Sheesh, it’s useless to stand against him without a countermeasure, huh… He even took the opportunity to hit me while saving his colleagues and students… I couldn’t even see him. But then, he was a bit slower than expected. Is it true after all? Are you weakening, All Might?”

All Might delivered a Texas Smash to the injured eye, once again budging it but failing to inflict actual damage.

“How do you like our Summon, mister Number One Hero? It's got maxed out dodge and damage reduction. You could hit it all day and it wouldn't even feel a thing."

All Might grinned. "Is that so? My thanks, villain! If force won't do the trick, I just have to hit harder!" Pouring more power into his punches, he began to unload a vicious barrage of rapid punches to the damaged eye.

Under the sustained assault, the cracks in the eye began to visibly grow as the villain was slowly forced back. Shigaraki, his voice barely a whisper, hissed to Kurogiri, "Give me a portal to his back - the tank's got aggro."

The mist villain complied with the order, creating a portal that Shigaraki thrust one death-dealing hand into.

At the same time, two of the electric villain's eyes glowed blue as they focused on All Might's arms, noticeably slowing his assault as the two remaining eyes began to glow with energy.

Something went wrong with their plan.

The portal briefly appeared at All Might's back before flickering and reappearing in front of the eyes, spread wide to block their line of sight. Shigaraki was barely able to pull his arm back before a massive barrage of projectiles flew through, sailing into the air and blowing a hole in the USJ's roof.

At the same time, the weight was lifted from All Might's arms, allowing him to renew his assault. The lightning villain desperately jabbed an arm into his injury in a futile attempt to slow his attacks. As the hero continued his assault, his hands almost seemed to take on a ghostly blue glow to them, slowly beating the damaged eye out of its spot in the formation.

"You seem surprised by my vigor, villain! Here's a lesson for you, free of charge! You may have thought you could handle my full power, but UA teaches its students to never stop striving to improve themselves! For that is the true meaning of our motto:"

His assault let up for a moment as he wound up a Detroit Smash.

"GO BEYOND!"

The iconic move slammed into the eye, blasting it out of position and sending it careening into the ground. New cracks spiderwebbed across its battered surface.

"PLUS"

As it struggled to move, All Might leapt into the air to deliver a follow-up.

"ULTRA!!!"

California Smash slammed into the grounded eye like the hammer of a vengeful god, crushing it against the unyielding ground and creating a wide crater from the sheer force of the impact.

At last, the heavily abused eye cracked and shattered spectacularly in a blast of dark purple smoke and black ichor, the shockwave propelling small fragments of purple crystal high into the air, where they began to fall like rain. 

The electrical villain let loose an ear-splitting shriek as its form flickered and finally dissipated, its four remaining eyes closing and dropping to the ground.

Uraraka yelped and threw herself over Thirteen's wound to try to stop any of the crystals from getting into the fallen hero's innards.

Shigaraki scratched frantically at his neck. "No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to turn out like this! Our Summoner said there was no way this Summon could lose against All Might!"

Then he paused, throwing his arms out wide. "But then, you're spent after that, aren't you, All Might? I can kill you with a single touch, right now. Kurogiri!"

Blood burst from Shigaraki's hand an instant before a gunshot rang out. The rest of UA staff had arrived.

"That would be our cue to leave," Kurogiri calmly observed as Snipe's bullets passed harmlessly through his intangible body. "Farewell, heroes."

His fog swallowed Shigaraki and the fallen orbs of the lightning villain before disappearing, leaving no trace of the attack's ringleaders other than a small, rapidly shrinking pool of black liquid.

* * *

"Thirteen and Eraserhead are both alive, thankfully. Thirteen's actually the one in worse condition, even though she was still conscious when we got here - we had to put her under so we could try to reconstruct her stomach. She insisted on giving us testimony before she'd let us sedate her, though. Good thing, too - she's the only witness we have for what happened between the students being scattered and the group from the Ruins Zone arriving."

All Might nodded to Tsukauchi, motioning for his friend to continue.

"Apparently, Eraserhead's quirk did nothing to that electric villain and a misjudgment of its durability got him downed. She jumped in to save him and stalled the thing for a time before getting taken off-guard, at which point Midoriya jumped in and risked his life to save her, becoming injured himself in the process." 

The detective let out a sigh. "I hate to say it, but we may have treated the kid unfairly in our caution. Of course, I'll get testimony from him once he recovers, just to be sure. His father's still a concern of mine, but that investigation is independent of this one."

All Might nodded. "In light of the day's events, I have to say I agree with you. Young Midoriya's actions display a true spirit of heroism, and I fear I let my hatred of All For One cloud my judgment when you told me of his possible involvement. Assuming his testimony checks out, I'll request that Nezu lift the monitoring on him."

* * *

Uraraka watched the ambulance depart with her favorite hero loaded safely inside, not daring to tear her eyes away from it until it was well out of sight. Finally, she allowed herself to take a deep, shuddering breath, telling herself that the ordeal was over.

She began to walk over to Iida, to thank him for running all the way to UA to get help, when a stabbing pain in her foot stopped her. Frowning, she pulled her boot off and shook it. A few fragments of purple crystal fell out, having apparently fallen in while they were raining from the sky earlier.

She shook the other boot out, too, before putting them back on and heading over to Iida.

Unnoticed, a final shard stayed embedded in the ball of her foot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was a pain to figure out where I was putting everyone for those short bits partway through showing where they'd been scattered to. Bakugou, obviously, is missing, because he's not at USJ due to temporary suspension.
> 
> Actual electricity probably would've killed Aizawa in the bit where YuugenMagan beats on him. Actual electricity also wouldn't be zapping him once he was off the ground, nor would it take the form of a woman.
> 
> Rereading the USJ for reference while writing this chapter, I was surprised how passive Shigaraki is during the attack. He mainly lets the Nomu do its thing. Made me feel better about how passive he is here, lol.
> 
> YuugenMagan can render its weak points intangible by closing its eyes during its boss fight. I ruled that the damage Izuku inflicted would stop it from doing so for the wounded eye, giving All Might a target.


	9. Eternal Dream ~ Mystical Maple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People recuperate after the USJ incident.
> 
> Uraraka enjoys some pleasant dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I say it every chapter, but thanks to you guys for sticking with my fic this long. Always a delight seeing hits go up, kudos, comments, everything. My only regret with this chapter is I replied to two too many comments so I can't make a "69 comments, nice" joke. Well, I guess I just did.
> 
> It was only a matter of time till I hit a Touhou song with a tilde in the title.

Kurogiri's portal dumped Shigaraki unceremoniously onto the floor of the League of Villains' bar hideout, the brass orbs from the lightning monster rolling through at the same time. The mist villain himself calmly stepped through after them, the portal closing behind his back.

A bat-winged woman with pointed ears and a red star tattooed below one eye lay sprawled on a sofa, swirling her long blond hair around one finger as she watched the villains return. She wore a purple vest over a white shirt and a long red skirt, and had tied a large red bow into her hair. A line of runes ran along the bottom of her skirt, glowing faintly purple.

“So how’d it go, then?”

Shigaraki shot a glare at her as he picked himself off the floor, careful to avoid placing all five fingers on the floorboards at any one time. “Your ‘help’ was worthless, Summoner. Our entire force got wiped out before UA staff even got there.”

“Stop calling me ‘Summoner’,” she snapped. “I’m a master of Planar Magic, not that worthless conjuration parlor trick.”

Reaching down with one arm, she grasped one of the orbs and laid it on her stomach as she continued to lounge on the sofa. “Did you manage to kill anyone?”

“No! Our help was worthless, and your Summon was worthless! All Might just crushed it and killed it! Broke it into purple shards!”

“A shame - I was hoping you’d at least get some souls for my master out of this affair. Did you at least stab someone with one of the shards?”

Shigaraki looked very much like he wanted to strangle her. “And what would that have done!?”

She looked at him like he had just asked why you couldn’t eat an entire watermelon in one bite. “Um, killed them? Duh? Or at least had some weird lingering magic effects if you didn't hit something important. I don't know, I didn’t invent this stuff, I just copied the formula from some text message.”

Kurogiri returned with a first aid kit and began to bandage Shigaraki's hand, conveniently stopping the villain from lunging across the room to throttle her. “I believe the point Shigaraki is getting at, Miss Elis, is that he believes your involvement in the plan only hindered us. We have now lost the element of surprise, and, at your insistence, we brought along your own associate rather than the Nomu that Sensei had specifically developed for this purpose. Now your associate is dead and UA will be on their guard against future attacks.”

Elis rolled her eyes. “I can guarantee you that whatever stupid little flesh thing you’re thinking of would have fared worse than YuugenMagan. And I have to correct you - she’s not dead. The girl's a boneheaded brute but her durability is her strong point. Isn't that right, you little moron?” The eye in her lap shot open to glare at her as she ran a hand along it like one would pet a cat. She cooed, “Yes, yes, you hate this, don't you?”

After a moment, she looked up at the other villains. “This isn't the first time she's been defeated - her eyes didn't come pre-cracked, after all. I can get her fixed up within a month. But, I'm curious as to how your ‘All Might’ was even able to damage her in the first place. Tell me _ everything _ about your little invasion.”

* * *

Uraraka found herself struggling to stay awake that night. It wasn't that she wasn't tired - she was absolutely exhausted, both physically and mentally, after the incident at the USJ - but she could still see Thirteen’s injuries every time she closed her eyes. She was dreading the inevitable nightmares.

At last, however, she lost her battle, and drifted off into the world of dreams.

* * *

A young man with short, shaggy dark brown hair took a moment to gaze out across the scenery of the Lunar Capital through golden eyes, appreciative of the splendor of his homeland, the various noble estates sprawling as far as the eye could see. His own family's estate was out there, somewhere, though not visible from the palace.

The white hallways of Lord Tsukuyomi’s palace were always pristine - a detail made possible by the stalwart efforts of nearly fifty Moon Rabbits working a ceaseless parade of cleaning shifts. He admired their dedication, if not their ability. He ran a finger along the windowsill - not a speck of dust, as expected.

“I heard you were promoted to captain of your patrol group recently.”

He turned to face the newcomer, a woman with short gray hair tied into a single braid. A single wing protruded from the back of her tan jacket, and her red eyes seemed to pierce straight through him.

Kishin Sagume, one of the most reclusive yet important figures in the Lunar Capital.

The greatest threat to his planned ascension.

He stayed calm - there was no way she could know his plans, he had chosen his co-conspirators carefully. “Indeed I was, Lady Sagume. In light of the honored sage's defection last month, I saw no alternative but to step up my efforts. I can only hope the Watatsuki sisters have done the same.”

Sagume remained silent.

“Ah, forgive me for my rudeness, I forgot how carefully you must watch your words.”

A troublesome Ability - by simply speaking of ongoing or future events, she could negate them entirely. How could he have forgotten?

He continued the stunted conversation, carefully maintaining his facade. “My house has been on the decline in recent centuries - I intend to bring our name back into prominence.”

“...It is a matter of policy that I do not speak of the affairs of the nobility.”

“Of course, of course. What brings you here today, by the way? I can't imagine you’re here for a social call.”

She stepped to the side of the hallway to examine a vase that had stood there since the palace's construction. One she had doubtlessly seen countless times before.

“Conspirators will dispose of Lord Tsukuyomi and seize control of the throne,” she stated simply.

His blood ran cold. Where had his scheming failed? Who had sold him out? He tore his gloves off frantically, desperately reaching for Sagume. A single touch was all he would need to kill her.

“Your Ability will bring death to the Lunar Capital before the day is through,” Sagume casually continued as she leaned back, watching him stumble in his haste. Despite centuries of combat training, he somehow managed to jam his foot against the pedestal the vase was resting on. The vase fell to the floor and shattered.

“And, clever as you are, you and your co-conspirators will evade capture.”

The sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway, heralding the arrival of reinforcements. At the head of a troop of Lunar Rabbit soldiers was a sword-wielding woman in a red and white dress, a yellow ribbon tying her light purple hair into a ponytail.

Watatsuki no Yorihime, one of the leaders of the Lunar Defense Corps.

It couldn't even be called a fight. She wasted no time in defeating the treasonous noble, her troops shackling his hands behind him.

“By the way,” said Sagume, “might I trouble you to use your Ability to fix the vase you broke?”

He glared at her, as though his gaze could kill her.

“A shame,” she said, departing, “it was a rather nice one.”

Yorihime read the sentence off right there in the hallway. “Amatsu no Wada, heir to the house of Amatsu-Mikaboshi, for your crimes of treason against the throne of Lord Tsukuyomi and attempting to bring Impurity to our Pure Land, I hereby sentence you to be exiled to Earth, with no allowance for return.”

It was the worst fate a Lunarian could endure.

“May you spend the rest of your days suffering in that impure land, and every night be reminded of the world you turned away from.”

* * *

Uraraka was thoroughly confused by her dream once she awoke. It made no sense to her, like she had somehow gotten someone else's dream. Then again, she was grateful on some level - at least it wasn't a nightmare. 

Checking her phone, a message from UA informed her that the school would be closed for the remainder of the week, opening up two days in her schedule. 

She'd need to do some shopping, since she now had two extra lunches to account for.

* * *

Uraraka gazed forlornly at a box of mochi next to the register as the cashier rang up her items. Normally, she'd pick one up for herself as a treat, but UA had decided to cancel classes for the remainder of the week due to the incident at USJ. She was grateful for the break, but at the same time it stretched her budget thinner than it already was.

After a long moment, she managed to tear her eyes away to pay for her groceries. The cashier handed her the mochi along with the receipt. “You looked like you were having a bad week.”

Smiling happily as she exited the store, Uraraka turned to begin her walk home when a shout stopped her.

“Oh, hey Uraraka!”

Ashido Mina ran up, tailed by Jirou. “This is perfect, guess we’re in the same area! I actually ran into Jirou earlier and she told me something odd.”

“You weren’t chanting at any point during the attack, right? I know Mina was with you most of the time, but I just wanted to make sure,” Jirou said.

“No, I wasn’t doing anything like that. I was too busy trying to, I dunno, _ stop my favorite hero from bleeding out in front of me!? _”

“Yeah, it’s like I told you, Jirou, no way was Uraraka doing anything weird like that. You sure it wasn’t Tokoyami or someone somewhere else?”

“Nah, couldn’t be. It was definitely a girl’s voice, and it was coming from the plaza area. It sounded familiar, but without hearing everyone in class chanting I couldn’t say exactly who it was.”

“Creepy. Well, while we’ve got you here, we were going to karaoke to de-stress after yesterday. You wanna come with? I’ll pay for the room.”

Uraraka considered the offer for a moment. “Sorry, I’m a bit busy today.”

“No problem, see you when school starts back up.”

* * *

“Testimony from Eraserhead and Thirteen identifies the ringleaders behind the attack as ‘Kurogiri’ and ‘Shigaraki Tomura’,” Tsukauchi said to the gathered UA faculty as surveillance footage from the USJ was displayed on-screen, showing the two villains.

With the exception of Eraserhead and Thirteen, every member of UA faculty was in attendance at the briefing. Thirteen was still unconscious, while Eraserhead had insisted on at least being allowed to remotely attend despite his own hospitalization.

“On top of that, we have testimony from several captured villains describing a third individual involved in masterminding the attack. Shigaraki's comments regarding a ‘Summoner’ are likely referring to this individual. Neither Shigaraki nor Kurogiri have entries in the public quirk registries, nor are there any recorded quirks matching theirs. Either they dodged the registry, or someone erased their files.”

He pulled up an image of the electricity-and-eyes villain that had caused the most damage during the attack. “The main combatant in the attack, pictured here, was consistently referred to as a ‘Summon’ by Shigaraki, and was unaffected by Eraserhead’s quirk. It's possible that it's a byproduct of a quirk in a manner similar to the Earth Beasts used by Pixie-Bob of the Wild Wild Pussycats. In the event that this entity is encountered again, it should be treated with extreme caution, considering its demonstrated combat strength.”

Vlad King raised a hand. “In light of the security breach shortly before the incident, I feel the possibility should be considered that the League may have infiltrated UA. Their comments during the attack indicate that they expected All Might to be present.”

Tsukauchi nodded. “On that subject, another disturbing matter came to light during our investigation.” The image of a middle school student to appear on-screen. The boy was extremely short for his age, with hair composed of several large purplish-black balls - obviously his Quirk.

“This is Mineta Minoru. He attended the UA entry exam before disappearing later that day. It was being investigated as a standard kidnapping, but the possibility that it was directly connected to the League's activities cannot be ignored. Mineta was extended an offer to join the Hero course, but was unable to accept it and his position was given to the next highest-scoring applicant, one Shinsou Hitoshi.”

“That's our spy, then,” said Snipe. “It’s an obvious enough play - take out another applicant so your own can get in.”

The line connected to Eraserhead’s room crackled as the hero unmuted it. “That’s an illogical course of action. If they could get insider information to learn their spy wouldn't get in without their intervention, then they wouldn't need a spy to begin with. If anything, it’s a distraction, meant to try to get us to fixate on a scapegoat.”

“I agree with Eraserhead,” said Tsukauchi, “the only thing we can concretely conclude from Mineta's disappearance is that Mineta himself is innocent. The disappearance itself could be a smokescreen, or it could have been a direct attack on UA by eliminating a student. Either way, the officer responsible for the investigation has been reprimanded for not escalating it sooner, and I apologize that UA had boot been made aware of this incident prior to today. Now, this next slide indicates the primary areas of activity of all captured villains involved in the USJ attack…”

* * *

Tsukauchi pulled Nezu aside after the meeting ended. “Principal, a moment of your time, if I may?”

“Certainly! What can I do for you, detective?”

“I apologize for any inconvenience with this request, but All Might and I both feel that-”

“Oh, I've already lifted the surveillance on Midoriya. His actions during the USJ speak to his innocence louder than any interviews could.”

“...I suppose I should have expected as much. Well, while I've got you here,” the detective fished a set of papers out from his folder before continuing, “one of the villains we captured, who goes by ‘Boulderdash,’ filled out a job application for a ‘anti-villain combat practices’ teacher position?”

Nezo looked thoroughly baffled. “There’s no such position at UA. In fact, we don't even accept applications in the first place - we send offers directly to heroes we think would make good teachers.”

“Well, into the trash this goes, then. Thank you for your time.”

* * *

Thirteen lay in her hospital bed, watching the moon through the window blinds. Another day of attempted treatment had gone by without success. The doctors were completely baffled - healing quirks had failed and the stomach they had transplanted to replace the ruined one had begun to rot almost immediately after the procedure had been completed. 

The next plan was bringing in a hero from the Philippines with a quirk that let him take others’ injuries onto himself, but there was some debate over whether this would work and whether they should even risk it, considering the possibility that the ailment would simply multiply.

Suddenly, a shadow fell across Thirteen’s bed. The Space Hero tried to turn her head to see who it was, but some force held her back.

“Please don’t look at me,” said a girl’s voice.

Through the copious painkillers, Thirteen felt a distinctive tingling in her wound as a ghostly blue glow illuminated the room. She attempted to see what was going on out of the corners of her eyes.

In response, the unseen force shoved the hero’s chin up, keeping her visitor out of sight.

“Don’t look at what I’m doing, either. It's dangerous for you to know.”

After a moment, the tingling stopped as the room darkened once again.

“Tell the doctors to try whatever they did first again, it’ll work now.”

The force keeping Thirteen’s head in place abruptly disappeared. As fast as she was able, she turned her head to see who was in the room with her, only to find that the stranger had left without a sound.

The cameras, needless to say, had no footage of the event the next morning.

* * *

This was very much a different kind of dream than the one Uraraka had experienced two nights ago.

For one thing, her mind wasn't being flooded with fabricated details - she was remarkably lucid, sure, but the scenery and characters of the dream were complete mysteries to her.

For another, the scenery of the dream was a stark contrast to that of the night before. Where previously there had been immaculate, white buildings constructed in meticulous conformity, instead there was Edo-style houses of all sizes thrown up almost haphazardly. Where there had been silence and isolation, the streets were instead a riot of noise and color - horned figures laughed, danced, and drank, cheering and launching fireworks into the sky.

The explosion's light brought a third contrast to light - tonight's dream was apparently set in some great subterranean cavern.

“Oh? You're a new face around here,” came a woman's voice from behind her. Uraraka turned to see a tall, blond woman dressed in a blue kimono and carrying a massive dish filled to the brim with liquid. A single red horn extended from her forehead.

“Name’s Hoshiguma Yuugi, I’m the boss around here. What brings you to our little underground paradise?”

“Uh, I just sorta woke up here? I’m sorry if I’m intruding, you seem to be in the middle of a festival or something.”

Yuugi looked puzzled. “Huh, couldn’t hear a thing you just said. Guess your grasp on this world’s pretty tenuous. Well, anyways, we’re having a good old-fashioned oni festival right now, partying, drinking, fighting, the works. Feel free to drift around and sightsee while you’re here, it’s always a lot of fun. I’d offer you a drink, but it seems like you’ve nearly passed on.”

A horned man - an Oni, Uraraka supposed, ran up. Rather than the tiger loincloth standard to most depictions of Oni, he was wearing more traditional clothing that wouldn’t look out of place on a villager from the sengoku period, if not for the bright colors he had chosen. “Boss Yuugi, Suika just demolished three blocks of the city with one of those black holes of hers!”

Yuugi grinned. “Guess I’m up now, then. We moving up to techniques yet or still just playing around?”

“She said she was done warming up after that.”

“Right then. Gonna go for Knockout.” She looked at Uraraka. “Might wanna back up, ghosty. Kanekuma here can show you where it’s safe.”

The male oni nodded and motioned for Uraraka to follow before hustling down the main street, ducking and weaving through the mass of oni. Uraraka found that she just needed to will herself to follow him, floating swiftly after him and passing through all obstacles in her path. As he ran, he panted out, “Boss Yuugi’s record is smashing up 6 blocks with that move, but she’s been in good form this month so we’re gonna be getting a bit further out.”

An ear splitting shout erupted from behind them, followed by whoops and laughter.

“That’s the warning, let’s hope eight blocks is far enough.”

Straining to see back up the street, Uraraka could faintly make out the small shape of Yuugi taking a long drink from her dish before lifting a single geta-clad foot.

Kanekuma had taken cover behind a wagon filled with cabbages. “Gonna be windy in a second.”

Yuugi brought her foot crashing down.

A shockwave exploded out from the point of impact, throwing rubble and dust high into the air. The lively sounds of the festival faded into silence for a moment, at least nearby - distantly, the revelry could be heard continuing.

Another oni poked his head out of the remains of what had, until recently, been his house. After a moment surveying the huge field of rubble, he cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted out, “SEVEN BLOCKS!”

A huge cheer erupted from the crowd, and the festivities resumed.

* * *

Uraraka woke up smiling - she hadn’t been able to go to a festival in months, and the one she had dreamt of had absolutely been lively enough for her to enjoy, even if she had been limited to watching it.

* * *

“So the Aichi Prefecture disappearance - and subsequent reappearance - proves that unassisted transfer is entirely possible, if improbable.”

Tokoyami furrowed his brow as he flipped through an encyclopedia of demons he had checked out from the Musutafu Library. His own collection had been unsuccessful at identifying the entity that had attacked the USJ, much to his consternation. Clearly, his resources were lacking - he’d need to resolve that.

“Okay, but without a way to force the desired result from probability space that knowledge doesn’t actually help us.”

The Skeptic Cafe was one of Tokoyami’s favorite places to relax. Despite its name, nearly every occultist in Musutafu frequented the place. Actually, perhaps the name was fitting - the cafe’s regular patrons could unanimously agree that society was incorrect about the accepted nature of reality, even if each of those patrons would disagree on _ what _, exactly society’s incorrect assumption was.

“On the contrary, Chiyuri - we know from the existence of people with ‘luck’ quirks that this sort of thing can work. You’re looking at it wrong. If we can’t force nature to give us the desired result from the probability space…”

The one annoyance, then, was when another of the cafe’s patrons was a bit noisy about their nonsense. Tokoyami shot an annoyed glance over his shoulder to the table behind him, where a red-haired young woman was in the middle of an extremely noisy conversation with a blond girl in a sailor suit. They were discussing some nonsense about non-euclidean spaces and parallel universes.

“...then we find a way to rig the probability space itself! Brilliant, Professor!”

“You appear to be disturbing the other patrons, Chiyuri.”

“Oh!” The blond looked around sheepishly, making eye contact with Tokoyami.

“Sorry,” she muttered, meekly.

Tokoyami turned back to his research. A section about the properties of the Evil Eye seemed promising - the creature had been primarily composed of eyes and lightning, and its eyes had even turned blue at one point, matching up with beliefs from the Aegean region of Turkey about blue eyes being especially potent users of the curse - but ultimately led to a dead end, as there were no demonic entities associated with it as far as he could tell.

He stopped flipping through the book for a moment to admire the quality of a picture of Baphomet. It really was a very nice book on the occult - he made a note of its name, to purchase a copy for himself.

* * *

Mamizou hmmed as she smoked on her pipe. “Bunch of eyes and lightning, huh?”

Izuku nodded. “Yeah - I could damage it a lot easier than anyone else could, I assume it has to have been some kind of youkai.”

“Yeah, definitely something nonhuman, if you could hurt it and it could hurt you back. Description has me stumped, though - doesn’t match up with any youkai I know of from back in the day.”

Izuku’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “So we’re at a dead end, then.”

She grinned. “Never said that. Said that _ I _ didn’t know what it was. If anyone knows what it is in Gensokyo, it’ll be Reimu.”

Another new name. But then, that was to be expected - Mamizou was extremely well-connected. “Reimu?”

“Our equivalent to yer All Might. She’s extremely powerful - beaten damn near everyone in Gensokyo at this point, and the people who’ve managed to take a win off her can be counted on one hand. She’ll be able to put us on the right track, if nothing else.”

Izuku’s eyes sparkled. A bona fide youkai-slaying hero? He’d need to get her autograph, for sure. His mind swam with possibilities as to who she was - a stoic master of the blade? A living saint, blessing the very ground she walked on?

* * *

Uraraka realized something was off the moment the dream started. She could keenly feel the night's chill and the moss and soil underfoot in a way she had never before felt, even in her most lucid dreams. It made her uneasy.

She looked around. She was in the middle of a massive forest of bamboo, tall stalks of bamboo reaching out as far as she could see, with no signs of civilization in sight. The area was bathed in the pale light of the full moon.

“Oh? How lucky, a human,” came a voice from behind her, making her jump.

The speaker was a young-looking girl clad in a pink nightgown, with dark red eyes and shoulder-length black hair from which two fluffy white rabbit ears protruded. She wore a necklace shaped like a carrot, and was slightly shorter than Uraraka.

“It's not a good night for humans, you see - they don't usually dare to come this far into the forest this time of month. But you're in luck, you've got me!”

Uraraka was completely lost. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

“It's bad manners to ask for someone's name without giving it yourself, you know.”

“Oh! Sorry, I'm Uraraka Ochako.”

“Nice to meet you, Ochako.”

The rabbit girl's boldness in using Uraraka's given name caught her off guard. “Um, wh-”

The girl continued, completely ignoring Uraraka. “So as I was saying, Ochako, normally humans don't dare to venture this far into the forest on the night of the full moon. Thankfully, I'm here to help! I'll guide you to safety for the low, low price of 50 Ryō!”

Uraraka balked at the price. “Fif- fifty!?”

If she remembered correctly from history class, the Ryō was a type of gold coin used prior to the Meiji Restoration. Even if she had money on her it would have been an insane amount.

The rabbit girl looked over Uraraka from head to toe appraisingly as the hero-in-training stood there in her pajamas. “Alright, I can see you don't seem to have too much on you at the moment, so I'll cut you a bargain. 10 Ryō now, and then you pay me the rest once I get you back to the village. Sound good?”

“I- I really can't-”

“I really have to emphasize how much of a steal this is - I'm basically the ruler of this place, nobody's going to give you trouble with me around! And my Ability is to bring luck to humans, so you're guaranteed a pleasant trip!”

“I'm grateful for the offer, but I don't have any money.”

The girl shrugged. “Well, can't say I didn't offer. I'd wish you good luck making it out, but I don't give free samples. Bad for business.”

She walked behind a stalk of bamboo and disappeared, much to Uraraka's confusion.

After a moment of trying to figure out where the girl had gone, Uraraka gave up, picked a direction, and started walking.

* * *

After some walking, Mamizou and Izuku arrived at a small shrine a long distance from the Human Village. Though it was clearly maintained, it clearly didn’t receive many visitors, a state of affairs that probably wasn’t helped by the fact that Suika, an extremely fearsome youkai, was comfortable enough in the place to be snoring on the front steps. Mamizou stepped over the slumbering oni and rapped sharply on the door of the shrine.

“Oi, Reimu, get out here! Got a question for you!”

“Go away,” came a muffled, grumpy voice from within the shrine.

“Come on, it’ll only take a second.”

“This is the first weekend I’ve had all month without some idiot youkai trying to start an Incident!”

“Incident?” Izuku wondered.

“What we call major disturbances around here. Blotting out the sun, stealing spring, making the night last forever - you name it, Reimu’s had a hand in fixing it.” Mamizou turned back to the closed door. “Answering a single question isn’t going to cause an Incident, Reimu!”

After a few seconds with no response, Mamizou just shoved the door open and barged inside. Izuku sheepishly followed her.

Inside the shrine, a girl with brown hair a bit longer than shoulder-length sat at a kotatsu, eating senbei. She wore a red skirt and red sleeveless top tied with a yellow ribbon. Her top was paired with white detached sleeves, and she had a red bow with white frills tied into the back of her hair. She glanced irritably at Mamizou as the tanuki entered the room. “You’re not getting any of my snacks. Suika already finished off the rest of them before you got here.

“And that pack was supposed to last me the rest of the month, too,” she grumbled.

“Look, Reimu, I’m serious about just asking a question or two. No pranks this time. My son here-”

“Oh great, there’s two of you now.”

“-okay, he’s from the Outside World, so he’s not gonna be in yer hair, and this could be big. Did you ever fight something made of eyes and lightning?”

“Five red eyes, shoot lightning to a central point, shape of a woman in the electricity?”

Izuku perked up. “Yes, exactly! What was that thing?”

“No idea.”

Mamizou plunked her sake jar onto the table. “That description was too on-the-nose for you to have absolutely no idea. You fancy a break from Ibuki’s booze? I brought plenty to share.”

_ Now _ Reimu looked interested in the conversation. “Yeah, gimme.” 

She set out a cup, which Mamizou wasted no time in filling. After draining it, she said, “Seriously, no idea exactly what that eye thing is. I fought it way back before I even got my ability, after some jerk smashed up my shrine. Wasn’t even that hard - I just kicked the yin-yang orb into its eyes a few times.”

Mamizou answered Izuku’s question before he could voice it. “The Hakurei Yin-Yang Orb is an extremely powerful relic passed down for generations. It’s harmful to youkai on contact.”

“It’s harmful to humans on contact, too. Thing’s _ heavy _,” Reimu grumbled, downing a second cup of sake. “Anyways, I fought that thing in Makai. So it’s not a youkai, it’s a demon. Didn’t see it that time I fought Shinki, so I figured I had killed it. That first Incident was pretty rough, nobody was using the Spell Card system so it was just a free-for-all in terms of lethality.”

“Clearly it survived somehow, though, if Izuku here fought it in the Outside World.”

Reimu gave the half-youkai a glance. “Yeah, sounds like you’ve got an Incident on your hands. Sucks to be you, glad I don’t have to deal with it.”

“Reimuuuuu,” came a voice from the other room, “Have you seen the Miracle Mallet? It should have enough energy stored by now for me to grow again!”

“I haven’t touched it! Did you look on top of your box?” the shrine maiden yelled.

“Yeah! It’s not there!”

“Think Nue mentioned she saw that Amanojaku makin’ off with it and snickering earlier today,” said Mamizou.

Cursing furiously, Reimu stormed out of the shrine, flying off into the night.

* * *

Uraraka was quite sure she'd seen this particular patch of bamboo before. Three stalks, all coming out of a central spot in the ground, next to a pair of fresh sprouts - very distinctive. She looked at it closely to try to memorize its appearance, so she'd be absolutely sure if she came across it again. To her surprise, there was a slip of weathered paper tucked into the base of the cluster. She took it and opened it.

_ Gensokyo. _  
_ If you know this name already, you shouldn't need this paper - put it back where you found it. _  
_ If you don't know that name, read the rest of this as quickly and thoroughly as you can - your life may depend on it. _  
_ I've been stuck here for around nine months at this point. The Paladin Hero, Idealist, was with me for a few months but _(the charcoal was heavily smudged and water damaged, rendering the end of the sentence thoroughly illegible.)  
_ I've been wandering around trying to find a way out. Whenever I think I know a place well enough, I'll leave one of these notes to hopefully help someone else. _  
_ You are currently in the "Bamboo Forest of the Lost". My greatest sympathies to you - I lost two weeks to this place the first time I stumbled in here. As far as I can tell, space bends around here. Even worse than by the edge of Gensokyo (if you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it - it'll be very obvious once you hit the edge). You can walk in a perfectly straight line and then come back to where you started, rotated ninety degrees from your original heading. Be very careful when moving or you'll just get more and more lost. _  
_ Hazard notes: outside of the spatial distortion, there's not many notable youkai in this area, and most of them will keep their distance if you have a torch. As a result, this is probably one of the safer areas to be in if you have a good supply or don't mind eating nothing but bamboo shoots. _  
_ PS - if you haven't prepared bamboo shoots before, you need to boil them first or they're poisonous. _

Uraraka frowned. If the note was to be believed, getting out would be a massive pain. She didn't even know how she got in! Maybe she could just sit there and wait to wake up.

A wolf's howl cut through the silence. Startled, she turned to look in the direction of the source.

Around a hundred meters away, a dress-wearing woman with wolf ears stood in the shadow of a particularly dense bamboo cluster, eyes glowing red in the darkness.

She threw her head back and let out another howl.

Uraraka put her hands up in a fighting stance, ready to fight what she assumed was someone with a Transformation quirk. The woman leapt, turning fully into a wolf in midair with another loud howl.

Uraraka was ready - she didn’t seem much faster than the robots from the entry exam, and once the wolf was in the air, its trajectory would be locked in. She just needed to be careful of the jaws when using her Quirk, and she could neutralize it.

Just before reaching her, the wolf transformed back into a wolf-woman, stopping dead in midair, shifted into wolf form to shoot to the side, then shifted back and forth again to resume the forward lunge from a different angle, slamming into her stomach with its head and knocking her to the ground.

Frantically, she scrambled back to try to defend herself, throwing her arms up in a desperate defense as the wolf-woman pounced, jaws wide and wicked fangs ready to bite.

Searing pain in her arm woke her up. In the throes of her nightmare, she had apparently flailed her arm out and split it open against her bed frame. It was bleeding quite heavily, actually - she quickly rolled out of bed and ran to the bathroom to clean and bandage the wound. UA was back on today, she'd swing by Recovery Girl's office before class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, this is a big chunk of a chapter. Just sorta grew that way. I originally had more, even - two extra dreams for Uraraka, making five in total. I couldn't cut the Lunar Capital Dream or the final dream where she actually projects into Gensokyo, and I liked the Former Hell dream where she experiences an Oni Festival too much to cut it, but the other two ended up getting cut for both reasons of slimming down the chapter, and that I wasn't super happy with how they were.
> 
> So, without further ado, my rambling commentary on things I did in this chapter:
> 
> If it wasn't 100% clear, YuugenMagan's eyes were patched up by Elis using the same formula Sumireko used to create the Occult Balls - hence the shared purple color and the effect the fragment had of causing Uraraka to project into Gensokyo. This isn't a permanent thing like Sumireko's projection, Uraraka hasn't been exposed to the orb for long enough.
> 
> Dream 1:  
-Sagume is the one who gave Sumireko the seventh Occult Ball, which was keyed to the Lunar Capital. This makes her the unwitting instigator of some of the stuff in the fic, because without giving Sumireko the formula, Elis wouldn't have been able to patch up YuugenMagan, nor would Izuku be able to currently exist in the Outside World.  
-Amatsu no Wada is not a character in Touhou canon, though I am pleased with a thing I did with his name.
> 
> Dream 2:  
-The idea of the oni trashing their own city for shows of strength in a festival came to me from a dream where I visited Former Hell and was invited to participate. I couldn't even crack the wood of a doorway and all the oni laughed at me for my weak human noodle arms.  
-Yuugi canonically can cause buildings to collapse by walking nearby, so a stomp of hers has gotta be real devastating.  
-Yuugi's also technically cheating in this contest considering her shouting can flatten forests, but it's really more about the spectacle and smashing stuff than actual competition, so it's fine.  
-Kanekuma is another character who doesn't exist in Touhou canon. I just combined "Metal" and "Bear" for his name, drawing from Shuten-Doji's mythical subordinates for inspiration (specifically, Kane-Doji is the odd one out in the Otogi Bunko version of the myth, and the other three subordinates all have "Kuma" in their name (Hoshikuma, Torakuma, and Kuma))
> 
> The cafe Sumireko visited with Izuku makes its return, so I decided it needed a name. I briefly considered calling it the "Antiskeptic" cafe, but figured that pun was too much (a rarity for me, considering I decided to name the rock golem villain "Boulderdash")
> 
> Dream 3:  
-Touhou characters usually refer to each other by given name rather than family name, when that's sorta personal for Japanese culture. I figure this is partly because several youkai don't even have family names. Definitely gives Uraraka culture shock, though.


	10. A Popular Location

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The days leading up to the Sports Festival, as well as the opening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, I've got fanart! [kasabee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kasabee/pseuds/kasabee) sent in [this amazing drawing of Izuku in his hero outfit](https://i.imgur.com/779OE6Z.jpg)! I'm still in shock, honestly.
> 
> I spent entirely too long agonizing over a title for this before I realized Hopeless Masquerade had a track that worked pretty perfectly considering the huge crowd at the festival.

“Honestly, how do you kids even manage to injure yourselves like this?” Recovery Girl said as she cleaned Uraraka’s wound in preparation for using her Quirk. “You said this was from banging your arm against your bed frame? It looks more like an animal bite.”

Uraraka rubbed her head nervously. It was true she had hit her arm against her bed frame, but there was no way she was mentioning she had been having a nightmare about a wolf-woman.

“It’s quite a deep wound, so there will likely be some scarring. I’ll do what I can to reduce that, though. While you’re here, do you want me to give you a full checkup? Everyone needs one before the Sports Festival, and it’s probably not a bad idea for you to get one anyways, in case one of those villains who attacked the USJ had a disease quirk.”

Almost as an afterthought, she added, grumbling, “I don’t trust those police paramedics.”

“Sure, but can you give me a note in case I’m late to class?”

“You’ve got Aizawa, right? Yeah, you’ll definitely need a note. Now then,” the elderly hero offered Uraraka a handful of gummies. “Eat these, you’ll need the energy.”

* * *

As it turned out, Uraraka was indeed slightly late for class, but there was no sign of Aizawa, either. As she walked in, Ashido was engaged in a conversation with Kaminari about whether there’d be a substitute or not, considering the severity of their teacher’s injuries.

“You have a scar on your arm,” Reiko observed flatly.

Iida’s head snapped up from what appeared to be a document he was compiling to fill in any potential substitute on where Aizawa had left off. “Wh- Uraraka! I must insist that you see Recovery Girl for medical attention immediately!”

“I already did, she said she couldn’t do anything to erase the scar but she could at least make it less noticeable.”

“Well, that makes sense, I guess,” Izuku said.

After a moment, he realized everyone was staring at him and elaborated, “W-well! I mean! Recovery Girl’s Quirk, Heal, works by accelerating someone’s natural healing, yeah? So it would leave a scar, since scarring is part of the body’s natural healing process, especially for larger wounds. It’s not magic or anything. That’s also why she didn’t assist during the apprehension of Contagion - her quirk works on injuries, so a disease-based quirk like the one he had needs to be treated by someone else.”

“...leave it to you to know exactly how someone’s Quirk works, huh,” Jirou said. “I always thought her quirk just worked like a healing potion from a game or something.”

“She was pretty annoyed after giving me a checkup, too - I apparently got a shard of that villain from the USJ stuck in my foot during the attack, and she didn’t know about it when she healed my arm, so the shard got stuck in there pretty good. She had to cut it out and use her Quirk a second time. Opened a new pack of gummies afterwards, so at least I didn’t get ones she had left in her pocket.”

“I think she just keeps a bag of them in her pocket so they’re not covered in lint or anything.”

The door slid open.

“Me being late is no excuse for you to be standing around chatting,” Aizawa said as he strode in, covered in so many bandages that he resembled a mummy.

“Sensei, should you really be teaching so soon after your injury?”

“This is nothing, it takes more than that to keep me down. I’m only wearing these bandages because Recovery Girl insisted I keep them on.”

“That doesn't sound like ‘nothing’,” someone muttered faintly.

“Anyways,” Aizawa continued, either not having heard the comment or choosing to ignore it, “we lost a few days because of the villain attack and it's imperative that we stay on track. First of all: Bakugou will be returning to classes starting tomorrow.”

He fixed his gaze on Izuku for a moment. “We will be keeping an eye on him in case of any future outbursts. That being said, none of you,”

He now looked over the whole classroom. “And I  _ mean _ none of you, should take this as an invitation to needlessly antagonize him. Doing so with the intent of getting him expelled will result in your own expulsion. UA has no place for a student who would try to hinder others’ development due to personal dislike, as Bakugou's punishment has hopefully made clear. I will not tolerate a second offense from  _ anyone _ .”

Silence filled the room.

After a moment, Aizawa sighed. “On a less threatening note, the UA sports festival is coming up in a little over two weeks' time. You should all make sure you're prepared for the event.”

“Is it really a wise decision to go forward with the sports festival, in light of the recent security breach and the USJ attack?”

“UA is confident we have taken the proper precautionary measures following the recent incidents. We’ve requested an increased police presence, overhauled our surveillance and intrusion detection systems, and will be actively on guard against any attempts to interfere with the event. Rather, what you should be thinking about is what the sports festival offers you as students.”

Yaoyorozu nodded. “All of the country’s top heroes are sure to be watching, so they can scout promising upcoming heroes.”

“Your time at UA is limited. Being scouted by a pro is one of the best ways to get a head start in the heroics industry. You only have three shots at this, so if you’re aiming to be a high-ranking pro this is one event that you  _ have _ to do your best at.”

* * *

“Man, even after the villain attack last week, I’m still freaking pumped for this! This is our chance to show what we’ve got and take a big step towards going pro!”

Izuku glanced at Kirishima’s excited discussion as he exited the classroom to grab lunch. “Huh, everyone’s so excited for the sports festival.”

“Of course!” exclaimed Iida, “This is our chance to make a strong impression on the world of heroics!”

“Iida. Deku.” Uraraka was sporting a surprisingly menacing smile. “Let’s crush this sports festival.”

“You know, it occurs to me - I want to be a hero to help people, and Iida’s talked about his family legacy before, but I’ve never asked what made you want to be a hero,” Izuku wondered aloud

She suddenly got an embarrassed look on her face, sheepishly running a hand through her hair. “I, uh…”

He quickly backpedaled, waving his hands around. “Um- if it’s something you’re not comfortable sharing, don’t worry about it!”

“No, it’s fine, it’s just… I want to be a hero for the money,” she admitted. “I’m sorry, I know it seems a bit selfish of me, especially with Iida and your noble motivations and all…”

“Why, though? There’s really nothing to be ashamed of about seeking a more comfortable lifestyle,” Iida assured her.

“My family runs a construction company, but business has been pretty bad lately. People hire the bigger companies when they need repairs or new buildings. We’ve only managed to stave off bankruptcy due to that villain attack in Saitama Prefecture - they needed all hands on deck to repair that.”

A massive villain attack had occurred in Saitama Prefecture last May, where a single still-unidentified villain had engaged in a high-altitude battle with the flame-using hero Afterburner. Their duel had left much of the city in ruins as the telekinetic villain had torn up portions of road, flung manhole covers into the air, and ripped i-beams out of buildings. Power had taken a month to restore due to the destruction of several key utility poles and a radio tower during the fighting. The hero himself had resigned after the encounter, claiming that he had been forced to use lethal force, incinerating his enemy, and could not continue to call himself a hero.

Conspiracy theories ran wild in the aftermath, as the only footage of the fight was shaky and from such a distance that neither party was easily identifiable - the most outlandish theories claimed that Afterburner wasn’t even involved in the fight, but rather had jumped on it for publicity to sell a fabricated memoir before retiring to prevent anyone from realizing it wasn’t him.

“If you got permission to use your quirk, you could massively reduce the costs involved with moving material,” Izuku considered aloud.

“I know, right? That’s what I said to Dad when I was really young!” She exclaimed. “He said I should follow my own dreams, though. So I’m gonna be a hero, and I’ll use that money to make sure my parents have easier lives.”

Iida smiled at her. “Trying to give your family an easy life is as noble a goal as any! I applaud your practicality!”

* * *

True to Aizawa’s word, Bakugou returned the next day. Izuku was dreading it, to be honest, but the blond stayed silent and withdrawn for most of the day. It wasn’t until lunch that he finally approached.

“Deku,” he hissed, “I’m only going to say this once: you beat me. And if that weren’t enough, that ice bastard’s show of power, and floaty chick’s little fireworks display - they weren’t even winded afterwards! How the fuck am I supposed to compete with that!?”

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm himself down - clearly, his suspension had gotten the message across that he at least needed to  _ try _ to keep his temper in line. “I’m going to make it clear that I’m the best in this class. I’m not going to lose again, so you better make a good showing at the Sports Festival so I can stomp you into the dirt, properly this time.”

As he got up to go grab his lunch (and presumably find a seat somewhere else), Uraraka walked right by him and took a seat at the table. 

Bakugou did a double-take at her lunch. “Fucking hell, Round Face, you think you’ve got enough meat on that plate?”

Her plate had several large cuts of rare steak on it, which she was visibly salivating at. After a moment, she tore her eyes away from the slabs of meat. “I know, I know, I grabbed a lot of food! I usually have mainly rice and tempura, but today the steak smelled really good and I just couldn’t resist!”

Bakugou scoffed and turned away, muttering under his breath. Shortly thereafter, Iida arrived at the table, glancing in the direction of the departing blond as he sat down.

“Bakugou wasn’t harassing you again, was he, Midori- Uraraka! I must insist that you go back up to Lunch Rush and get a properly balanced meal! Nutrition is of paramount importance as we train to be heroes!”

* * *

Uraraka stopped abruptly as she opened the door to leave at the end of the day. “What the-”

A huge crowd had gathered outside the classroom, shoving and pushing to try to get to the front, completely blocking the exit.

“The heck!?”

“What are they even here for?” wondered Sero.

“Obviously they’re scoping out the competition,” grumbled Bakugou. “This is the class that survived a villain attack, it’s natural that they’d want to check us out before the sports festival, try to get whatever advantage they can.”

The blond strode up to the group of students. “No point in doing so, though. Out of the way, you damn weaklings!”

A smug-looking boy with slicked blond hair sneered at Bakugou’s declaration. “Huh? You think we’re weaklings compared to you? Why, I had come to see the ‘mighty’ 1-A that had fought back a villain attack, but I’m really not impressed. Why, didn’t you guys even have one of your members suspended prior to the attack?”

Bakugou’s hand curled up in the telltale motion of preparing to fire off an explosion, but he visibly restrained himself.

The smug blond continued, “Really, this just shows that 1-B is the superior hero course class, doesn’t it? We’d have had no trouble with such an attack - unlike you, we actually work together and-”

“I’ve heard enough of this drivel,” Reiko said with shocking forcefulness, glaring at the boy. “I can  _ guarantee _ you that if 1-B had been attacked, there would have been more casualties. There would have been  _ deaths _ .”

The complete certainty in her tone, as though she was stating a simple fact, made the boy visibly gulp.

She continued, “It was nothing short of miraculous that we handled the attack as well as we did, and you shouldn’t be making light of someone else’s brush with mortality.”

Having said her piece, she floated up and over the crowd, down the hallway, and out of sight.

“That’s just great,” muttered Kirishima, “between the two of them we’ve got a whole mob of people that hate us now.”

Satou sighed, “We really got a bum draw in the people skills department, huh? Todoroki barely talks, Yanagi’s usually blunt as hell and Bakugou’s, well, Bakugou.”

* * *

The weeks leading up to the sports festival seemed to blow by in an instant, which left Izuku with distressingly little time when he realized that the festival’s ban on support gear for non-support students would prevent him from wearing the amulet he depended on for his continued existence. He approached Aizawa after class with three days to go until the festival.

“So you’re saying that your necklace is required support gear for you?” The teacher asked, picking at his scarring - the demon that had attacked USJ had left him with dark lichtenberg figures all over his face and body.

Izuku nodded. “I’ve got a condition that threatens my life - it radiates energy that keeps it at bay.”

Well, at least his statement wasn’t a  _ complete _ lie.

Aizawa typed a message into his phone, sending it. “I’ll see what Principal Nezu thinks, but I imagine you’ll need to bring in some documentation about your condition, as well as letting the support department examine it to make sure you’re not trying to conceal some other functionality.”

Almost immediately, his phone buzzed with a reply. Aizawa turned his phone around to show the reply to Izuku.

**Aizawa** : Midoriya Izuku is requesting permission to use a support item, saying that it’s necessary for health purposes.

**Nezu** : I’ve looked into the matter already. Approved.

The phone buzzed a second time as Aizawa was showing Izuku the reply. It was faint, and he couldn’t have caught it without his enhanced senses from being a youkai, but for an instant he could clearly see the words “ _ Not delivered _ ” appear below Aizawa’s message, before they vanished again, leaving no sign they were ever there.

“Anything else you need while you’re here, Midoriya?”

He shook his head silently.

“Then go ahead and get out of here - every second you can spend training for the festival is important.”

* * *

At last, the day of the Sports Festival arrived. Izuku was woken up bright and early by a shout from his mom.

“Izuku, honey, come down and see who’s come to see you!”

He tumbled out of bed - it was a bit earlier than his usual wakeup time, but not by much - and quickly dressed himself before heading downstairs to see his mysterious visitor.

Sitting on the sofa was Midoriya Hisashi, clean-shaven with a head of messy green hair, peering at Izuku through round spectacles as he smoked from a kiseru. He was wearing a gray suit with a small lapel pin in the shape of a notched leaf.

“DAD!?”

“What, you really didn’t think yer old man would miss something as important as his son’s sports festival, did you?”

“But what about your-” Izuku caught himself just in time. “Your job? Don’t they need you ‘overseas’?”

“Hah! A day or two off won’t kill me, and I was finally able to slip away. Though, uh, Inko, that does remind me - someone I know from work is also showing up, I had an extra ticket. I hope you don’t mind, I can totally tell her no if it’s an issue.”

Inko smiled. “Oh, it’s no problem at all, dear.”

A knock came from the door. “Oh, that should be her now.”

A suit-clad Sumireko strolled in, looking rather displeased with her formal attire. Seeing Inko, she straightened her posture and stopped picking at her collar, giving a formal bow and an introduction. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Midoriya, I’m Renko Hearn, one of Hisashi’s coworkers...”

‘Hisashi’ jumped in to help her as she trailed off. “She works in the investigative department of the investment firm, looking into things that catch our interest.” He made a show of checking his watch before adding, “We should probably go - I know it’s still a little early, but they’re sure to have stricter security checks in light of recent events.”

* * *

Izuku made it to his class without issue - the students had notably less strict checks to go through. They had gathered in the 1-A Prep Room, which turned out to be a relatively bare room close to the Sports Festival Arena’s main entrance, furnished with folding tables and chairs.

“Whoa, Uraraka, are you growing your hair out?” Ashido wondered. “It’s almost past your shoulders now.”

“It’s been growing faster than usual for about a week now, I’ll need to get a haircut by the weekend if it keeps up like this!”

“They let you keep your amulet,” Reiko observed, staring at the object.

“Um, yeah. I sort of need it,” he replied.

After staring at it for slightly longer than was comfortable, she turned away.

Bakugou approached Izuku, several students watching the interaction uneasily.

“Deku.”

“Y- yeah, Kacchan?”

“I’ve told you to stop calling me that, you fuck!” He took a deep breath before continuing, “You better not take a dive to avoid fighting me. I’m gonna prove to you that I can beat you in a straight fight - that I can beat  _ anyone _ in a straight fight.”

“I don’t know why you feel the need to say you can beat me, Kacchan.” The blond fumed at the use of his nickname. “Your Quirk is amazing - it’s always been amazing. But if you really think I’d lose on purpose to avoid fighting you, then you don’t understand anything. I’m here to be a hero - we all are. If I was the sort of person to give up when things seemed hard, I wouldn’t be here. I’m aiming for the top too - with everything I’ve got.”

* * *

“Uh, hey, Tsukauchi,” crackled a voice from the detective’s radio. “Got some bad news.”

“What happened? I can get backup to you within half a minute - Kamui Woods, Mt. Lady, and Death Arms are all on active patrol right now, to say nothing of police presence.”

“Nah, no situation here. Got word from the station - someone paid Boulderdash’s bail. That obnoxious chatterbox is walking the streets once more. Noone will be safe from his nonsense.”

Tsukauchi groaned. “This is serious, Goto, we need to be looking out for actual threats. Cut the radio chatter and focus for once in your life.”

“I might have something here,” came Officer Tamakawa’s voice. “UA’s got surveillance on the private boxes, right?”

“Yeah, they installed them as a backup measure. Why?”

“That Hisashi guy you’ve been looking into just checked in, party of three. Him, his wife, and a ‘Renko Hearn’. Their IDs all checked out, but considering you’re actively investigating him I figured you might want to keep an eye on them.”

“Yeah, I’ll speak to Nezu immediately. Thanks for the heads-up.”

* * *

“Now this is pretty nice!” Sumireko cheered as she sank into an armchair. “Never been one for sports stuff, myself, but I could definitely get used to these sort of events if  _ this _ is what the seating’s like!”

“Don’t get too used to it, ‘Renko’,” Mamizou said as she grabbed a bowl of Tanuki Udon and a bottle of sake off the VIP box’s dining table. “This is a VIP box - most of the crowd’s gonna be packed in like sardines down below.”

“Figures,” the high-schooler pouted.

“Well, I think it’s nice just to be here in person,” Inko said as she picked out a plate of eel from the selection they had been provided with. “I’d have been happy just watching Izuku on the television, but to think you actually got tickets - and VIP tickets, no less!”

“Nothing but the best for you, dear,” ‘Hisashi’ said, beaming proudly. “Care for a drink?”

“Oh, not right now - I’d be too drunk to pay attention if I started now.”

* * *

The first-year students strolled out onto the field, filing in through a set of entrances in the stadium wall that also served to sort them by department. Present Mic provided accompanying commentary for their entrance.

“ ** _Welcome, one and all, to UA’s annual Sports Festival! Every year our rising heroes compete to show their stuff and see who comes out on top! First up… You all know them! The shining stars who’ve already fought off a genuine villain attack! Put your hands together for the battle-hardened veterans of Class 1-A!_ ** ”

“Quite a crowd…” Iida observed. “I suppose doing our best when the public eye is on us is just another skill we’ll need in the world of heroics.”

“They’re really building us up, huh,” said Kirishima. “But we’re not letting that get to us, huh, Bakugou?”

“Just pumps me up to put all the extras in their place,” agreed the explosive blond.

“ ** _Next up, while 1-A was fighting, they were honing their techniques! What they lack in experience, they make up for in preparation! Everybody give a warm welcome to Class 1-B!_ ** ”

“They definitely gave us a shorter introduction,” muttered Tsuburaba.

“One more reason we need to show the world we’re superior to 1-A,” responded Monoma in his usual self-assured way.

_ I’ll prove to everyone that I’m not just here because they needed to fill a seat in the Hero Course _ , Shinsou thought as he looked over the crowd. The general studies students had held a grudge against him ever since someone had realized one of the students who scored well enough to pass the entry exam had disappeared and left their slot to him.

“ ** _And then we’ve got classes C through E of General Studies, classes F through H of the Support Department, and the Management kids._ ** ”

Up in the Midoriyas’ VIP box, Sumireko unsuccessfully attempted to stifle a snort of laughter, earning herself a light slap on the shoulder from Mamizou.

“ ** _And now, your lovely Referee for the First Year event… Midnight!_ ** ”

The R-Rated Heroine strode proudly onto the field, clad in her corset and flesh-colored bodysuit and brandishing her whip.

“No idea how she got a teaching position at a school,” Mamizou muttered.

“Your student representative for this year is Kirishima Eijirou!” Shouted Midnight.

“Guess it’s cause he came first in the entry exam,” whispered Sero.

Kirishima awkwardly took the stage, glancing at the crowd before focusing on the microphone handed to him. He cleared his throat nervously.

“We’ve had a rough few weeks, huh? Villains breached security and attacked us, trying to snuff out the future of heroics.”

A confused murmur went through the crowd, clearly unsure as to where he was going with his speech.

“But we faced it and survived, and we’re holding the Sports Festival anyways to show that we won’t run and hide! My idol, Crimson Riot, said that chivalry - that manliness - means to live without regret! Even if we’re scared, we push through it and fight despite our fear, because that’s what courage - what  _ heroics _ \- is! And all of us here today, by participating despite the recent events, are demonstrating that we’re heroic in our own right!”

Sumireko was now wheezing with laughter “Chivalry? Manliness? They don’t vet these speeches at all, do they?” she managed between cackles.

Midnight smiled - it was far from the most disastrous speech in UA history, honestly probably in the upper half. They really needed to check what the students were going to say ahead of time, honestly. “Now, without any delay, let’s get on with the main event! This is the elimination round, which sends so many students home broken-hearted every year! Our fateful event this year is…”

The large screen behind her made a show of spinning through text before landing on the final result:

**Obstacle Race**

“The Obstacle Course Race! A competition between all eleven classes to see who can complete a four-kilometer lap around the edge of the arena despite the hazardous terrain! Anything goes as long as you don’t leave the course!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if Recovery Girl's quirk actually does anything to disease in canon, but at the very least the wiki doesn't say anything about it and it hasn't come up in the manga unless I'm forgetting something. Maybe I've nerfed her by saying it doesn't, but oh well in that case.
> 
> Shinsou being in the hero course from the start means he's got a different chip on his shoulder, and without All Might mentoring Izuku then Todoroki's not taking special notice of him.
> 
> Within Touhou canon, Mamizou can hop between Gensokyo and the Outside World apparently at will, and is mentioned to hang out with Sumireko regularly. I nerfed this to explain why she was absent as Izuku was growing up, but she's at least regained enough strength to make this trip. No way is she missing Izuku's first Sports Festival, even if it might not be the best idea.
> 
> Usami Renko and Maribel Hearn, the protagonists of the Sealing Club stories in the Touhou Music CDs, are from the future and thus I can't really use them unless I tweak their background like I did with Yumemi. I figured I'd have Sumireko use a combination of their names as a nod to them.
> 
> Why, oh why did I decide to make Kirishima the top scorer on the entry exam when I knew full well that meant I'd have to write a speech for him?


	11. Fair Scramble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Obstacle Race and Cavalry Battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am absolutely astounded - broke 100 comments and 2500 hits! I wish I could give you guys a big milestone chapter suitable for this, but, alas, it's only the first two events of the Sports Festival.

On cue, a set of shaped metal panels began to unfold across the stadium entrance, forming a starting gate for the participants. There was a brief scramble to try to get to the front of the pack, primarily on the part of the General Education students who were anxious to place well - the Heroics students were generally confident enough not to care too much about their placement at the start, the Support students were only there to show off their equipment, and the Management students didn’t particularly care.

Present Mic bellowed out a “ ** _Racers, to your positions!_ ** ”, on account of the fact that Midnight had stepped in to bring some order to the lineup process.

* * *

“So, thoughts on the course?” asked Mamizou as she lit her kiseru.

“Yeah - it’s moronic,” huffed Sumireko. “From what we can see here they’ve got some sort of robots set up, then some pits, then a flat field. Someone with flight or teleportation can just breeze through the whole thing.”

“Both of those are actually fairly rare, though - Quirks suitable for flight have about a 2% incidence in the population, and teleportation quirks are closer to 0.5%, often with restrictive conditions that would render them unusable for a race like this,” Inko pointed out.

Mamizou whistled. “You knew that off the top of your head?”

“Izuku loves learning about quirks - I guess I’ve just sort of absorbed it.”

“Should’ve known. His love of all things Heroics came across even in his letters. Always knew he’d get a good power, even if it took some time.”

* * *

The struggle had been broken up and Midnight returned to her position at the side of the gate. 

“Now then, without any further delay…”

The lights above the starting line lit up one by one.

“ _ Start! _ ”

Every student rushed for the gate at the same time. The problem with this strategy immediately became apparent. The wave of bodies slammed against the metal as those at the front failed to pass through the narrow opening quickly enough for the rest of the horde.

_ I see, _ Izuku thought,  _ the starting gate itself is the first obstacle. _

A slight chill ran up his leg as Todoroki broke away from the front of the pack, racing out onto the field and trailing ice in his wake. The Heroics students, having been training relentlessly, dodged in their own ways - Izuku saw Ashido lay down a coat of acid to block the ice’s progress, Yaoyorozu produce a staff to pole vault with, Bakugou blasting himself into the air, and the purple haired kid from class 1-B standing on a platform of human bodies. He could probably power through the ice, himself, but it was faster to dodge it.

As Todoroki continued to widen the gap, two of the 1-pointer robots from the entry exam rolled in to block the advance of the remaining racers. A group of zero-pointers, seemingly every robot that hadn’t been destroyed in the entrance exam, towered above Todoroki himself.

“ ** _What would an obstacle course be without obstacles? Our first hazard is the Robo Inf_ ** erno!” Present Mic’s volume decreased drastically as his sentence ended. “Hey, Aizawa, buddy, what gives?”

“I turned you down. The racers don’t need to hear you anymore, and I imagine our viewers will thank me.” Aizawa deadpanned.

Todoroki didn’t hesitate - another wave of ice swept out with a gesture of his hand, encrusting the towering robots as they moved in and halting them.

Someone shouted out, “Nice, he stopped them! Quick, everyone, he left an opening for us!”

Someone else reached out to stop them. “Wait, you fool! That doesn’t look stable!”

Almost in slow-motion, the zero-pointers began to shift and fall from their unstable positions. Before they could fall onto the unlucky students heading the pack, a tremendous burst of air launched them aside.

“Damn it, Todoroki!” Kirishima grunted out through gritted teeth, clutching a heavily-cracked arm, “Someone could have died there!”

Bakugou didn’t waste any time - while the rest of the racers were gawking over the display of raw power, he launched himself over a fallen robot. Reiko, Tokoyami, and Sero were quick to follow, zipping along with the mobility afforded them by their own quirks. Izuku, for his part, raced along on his own inhuman speed and stamina. While he couldn’t compete with speed quirks for raw sprints, he knew he wouldn’t tire and his physical capabilities would let him slowly draw his way to the front of the pack. Already he was beginning to outpace the non-heroics students, along with…

_ Most of Class B? _ He realized.  _ That’s not right - they should have the same training we do. A single Villain attack isn’t going to make us magically - heh, “magically” - better than them in a race. _

One of the few Zero-pointers that Todoroki had missed was struck down by a cannonball to the head courtesy of Yaoyorozu, giving some of the straggling racers the courage to push forward into the battlefield.

* * *

“These robots suck,” said Sumireko matter-of-factly as the racers pushed through the robot horde.

“Now, now, ‘Renko’, UA can’t just kill off their students, and not everybody in the race is going to be a trained heroics student - or even seeking to be one. I have to imagine some of the Gen Ed students are just here because they want a good education and they have to participate in the sports festival whether they want to or not. It’s understandable they’d err on the side of caution.”

“Yeah, but the robots are slow and go down easy. I could take all of them blindfolded. Hisoutensoku’s more threatening than that, and it’s a marketing gimmick. You could thrash these things even more easily than I could, Mami.”

Mamizou’s hand immediately shot to cover Sumireko’s mouth as she spared a panicked glance in the direction of her wife. Inko was too engrossed with Izuku’s performance to have noticed, it seemed - the boy had just skirted another falling zero-pointer a bit closer than she’d have liked.

“Don’t use that name here,” Mamizou whispered.

“Right, sorry,” Sumireko responded sheepishly.

* * *

Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow.

_ Mami? _

A pity his quirk didn’t work remotely - he’d have liked to know if this Renko character was truthful about her capabilities.

_ Better assign some extra officers to the arrest group, I guess. _

He typed out a message on his phone.

_ Tamakawa- _   
_ Can you do a search for any ‘Mami’ in the database? Thanks. _

* * *

The racers leading the pack arrived at a massive chasm, dotted with platforms connected by a branching network of ropes.

“If the first obstacle was too easy for those combat fanatics, how ‘bout the second? Presenting - the Fall! One wrong move and our hopeful racers are  _ out! _ ”

Todoroki was already making his way across the first tightrope.

“This is just a glorified tightrope walk, isn’t it?” Asui muttered to nobody in particular as she picked a rope and began to crawl across it.

“Fufufufu… This is my time to shine! Support Companies of Japan, behold my beautiful babies! I give you, the Wire Arrow and Hover Soles!”

Uraraka looked over at the speaker, a girl with bright pink hair reminiscent of a discolored bunch of bananas and covered in gadgets. “Waaaait, you’re allowed to bring devices into the festival?”

“Heroics kids get actual training! It’s only fair that we in the Support Department get to bring in the devices we’ve made during our own classes! Now then, keep watching, and be sure to see how useful my devices are!”

A launcher attached to her torso fired a dart into the next platform over, which was trailing a long steel wire. Without even so much as a tug to make sure the line was secure, she leapt into the abyss, cushioning her landing with a burst of air from her specially-constructed boots before beginning to climb up the side of the platform.

“Honestly,” said another student with glowing hair and eyes like a starry night sky, “Hatsume is too much of a show-off for my taste.”

He planted a metal signpost into the ground, which made a pinging noise for a few seconds before expanding a screen that displayed the network of platforms and tightropes. A path through it was highlighted. He looked at the screen for a moment before proceeding.

“What? I’m more of a programmer. This thing’s just a shortest-path traversal problem.”

As Reiko drifted over the chasm, she spared a glance at Izuku. He had apparently gotten his hands on something - maybe a piece of robot debris - and had turned it into a zipline trolley, and was clinging to it, using it to slide across the tightropes quickly and efficiently. He was taking a slightly suboptimal path - likely to avoid colliding with others and potentially knocking them off the line as the sheave slid along the cable.

* * *

Elis sat up straight on the sofa as she brushed powdered crystal onto one of the fragments of YuugenMagan’s shattered eye, pointing at the television with her free hand.

“That kid, right there - he the one?”

Shigaraki stood on tiptoes to see over her large batlike wings. “Yeah, he’s the one who hurt the Summon.”

“I’ve told you before, YuugenMagan’s not a summoned creature, and I’m not a summoner.”

* * *

“The racers in the lead might be feeling pretty comfortable about now! But complacency sets you up for failure! I present - the final obstacle! A Minefield! They’re not hidden super carefully, but if you move hastily or carelessly you won’t see them till you set them off! They’re not overly lethal, but they’ll definitely knock you around!”

“That’s obviously dependent on who sets them off.”

Todoroki’s pace slowed, but not by much - the upturned dirt and bare patches where the landmines had been placed stood out to him plain as day. However, the act of slowing down allowed Bakugou to catch up, rocketing for the lead under his quirk’s recoil-based propulsion.

Izuku had gained a significant amount of progress in the race at the canyon crossing, and was now one of the top 5 - outside of Bakugou and Todoroki, both Tokoyami and Reiko were also ahead of him, though Tokoyami had slowed to a crawl comparatively. Apparently the flashes of the landmines were devastating to his quirk.

However, discounting Tokoyami, the three remaining frontrunners had too much of a lead on him. While Bakugou and Todoroki’s struggle had slowed them, they were within spitting distance of the finish, and Reiko was airborne and breezing through the course with no heed for obstacles. It seemed Fourth Place was the best he’d be getting.

A blast from Bakugou’s palms and a spike of surprise from some hapless student hitting the landmines gave him an idea. 

The explosives’ placements were obvious enough, though he’d had to slow to navigate the field safely, but perhaps thinking of them as  _ obstacles _ was the wrong way to go about it. He forced the gathered surprise into his legs, augmenting his defense just like Byakuren had taught him, and took a running start before leaping onto the closest landmine, aiming for the edge of it.

_ I hope this works, or I’ll just look like an idiot who threw my lead away. _

He touched down perfectly on the edge of the mine closest to the finish line, bracing himself for what came next. It promptly detonated, flinging him closer to the line. Focusing as intently as possible, he positioned his legs such that he would land on the edge of the next landmine as well.

“Wh- this is absolutely  ** _INCREDIBLE!_ ** Midoriya Izuku is skipping across the minefield, using the blasts to propel himself!”

Bakugou and Todoroki watched as he sailed right past them, breezing through the minefield. They immediately broke up their squabble to try to catch up, Todoroki freezing the field to disable the mines ahead of him and Bakugou launching himself into the air with his quirk.

“DEKU! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!”

Izuku spared the briefest of glances in Bakugou’s direction - the blond wouldn’t be able to catch up in time. Reiko, surprisingly, was catching up to the three of them and would probably pass Bakugou, but still wouldn’t be able to grab first place from him.

He turned back to the course ahead of him just in time to realize the mine he had been aiming for was no longer there. His foot hit the ground hard and he crumpled into an awkward roll.

Reiko zipped across the finish line just ahead of him, a landmine circling her lazily.

* * *

“Gonna throttle that gray-haired ghost wannabe,” Mamizou muttered as she passed Inko a handkerchief.

“Now, now, Hisashi,” She gently scolded, “They did say anything goes. It’s not like Izuku would have come out of that any worse than he would from exploding all those mines, anyways. He still got second, and we should be proud of that.”

“This is exactly what I meant when I said that flight trivializes that course,” Sumireko remarked as she lay back in her armchair and began looking through social media posts. “You saw that burst of speed she put on at the end - she was probably holding back for most of the race looking for an opportunity.”

* * *

Naomasa’s phone buzzed with a response.

_ Tsukauchi- _

_ Police database search came up with a “Mami the Headtaker.” Assassin, signature is decapitating their victims, travels frequently. True name and appearance unknown. _

The detective frowned. Assassins. Always a headache to deal with - never as flashy as villains, accustomed to acting in secret, very effective at covering their tracks almost as a rule. If Hisashi really was the Headtaker, then he’d need to be very careful in his approach.

* * *

“The Second Event is the Cavalry Battle! Participants will have 15 minutes to form teams of up to four people to form a horse-and-rider formation! Each of you will be given a headband based on your placement in the Obstacle Race, starting at 5 points for the student in 42nd place and increasing by 5 points for every rank above that! The sole exception is our 1st place, who instead will be given a headband worth a whopping Ten Million Points!”

Everyone looked at Reiko, who had finished the Obstacle Race in first.

“This is your chance for a comeback - just because someone did well in the first event doesn’t mean they’ll still do well here! It’s anyone’s game! Your 15 minutes for team selection starts… Now!”

* * *

_ With a decent score, I shouldn’t need to worry about grabbing other headbands, and most focus will be on Yanagi. Ideally I want a team with both offense and defense, so we can easily secure new headbands while protecting our own - though I imagine we won’t have to deal with too many attacks. _

While Izuku was planning his team, Uraraka approached. “Deku! Wanna team up with me?”

“Oh, sure, Uraraka! I was actually about to ask you myself. We work well together and your Quirk is extremely well-suited to a contest like this. Now we just need someone for offense…”

“I could help with that,” offered Tokoyami, who had apparently been hanging around waiting for an opening. “Might you be persuaded to join forces with me to overcome the forces of darkness once more?”

_ ...Yeah, that works. _

* * *

“The fifteen minutes are up, and all the teams are gathered on the field! It’s time to get this show on the road!”

As the starting signal was given, Reiko, Hatsume, and Bakugou immediately launched themselves into the air - Reiko and Bakugou with their quirks, and Hatsume using a combination of her air boots and a jetpack. Wasting no time, the explosive boy blasted himself at the number one duo, aiming for the bandanas around Reiko’s neck.

“And we’re off to a high-flying start with an aerial battle courtesy of teams Bakugou and Yanagi!”

Hatsume huffed. “They’re not giving me enough credit - gotta fix that!”

She grabbed two spherical orbs from her pack, tossing them into the air where they took up positions orbiting her. As Bakugou got close, they began to spark menacingly, forcing him to back off and land on his team to prepare for another launch.

Mei deployed a megaphone from her pack, using it to project her voice to the audience. “How do you like my Orbiting Deterrents? They keep opponents at bay without you having to lift a finger - perfect for people with long-range quirks!”

Down below, things turned into a hectic scramble as the teams without a ranged option realized their only choice was to attack other teams while Yanagi began showering the grounded teams with volleys of ball bearings. Izuku directed his team to make for Hagakure, who was busy fending off an attack from 1-B’s smug-looking blond. With their attention elsewhere, it was easy to snag their headband while they weren’t looking.

* * *

“Kid’s a chip off the old block, huh?” Sumireko asked, glancing at Mamizou.

“Heh - you’d have to be a fool to pass up easy points off an unaware opponent, and he’s no fool. I’m sure even Heroes can appreciate seizing the advantage, at least the ones who aren’t obsessed with concepts like ‘honor’. What do you make of that Bakugou kid’s aerial maneuvering?”

The girl huffed. “Eh, he’s decent - for a power tripping high-schooler.”

This raised an eyebrow. “You, of all people…  _ That’s _ the insult yer goin’ with?”

* * *

Easy points secured, Izuku’s team slunk off to continue trying to avoid attention. 1-B’s apparent ringleader moved to cut them off.

“Ah, so we have a vulture skulking in the wings, it seems!” he exclaimed, holding his arms wide. “What’s the matter, 1-A? Can’t stand a fair fight so you need to resort to dirty tricks?”

“You’re trying to pull the exact same trick,” Izuku countered, pointing to Monoma’s neck, which had about three more bands than he had started with. “Lemme guess, picked a team lopsided towards defense?”

“Wh- I never! Tsuburaba, go!”

Tsuburaba exhaled, creating a veritable maze of solidified air barriers and proving Izuku’s point about being lopsided towards defense in the process. Dark Shadow wasted no time in bypassing the maze by running through a crack in the floor, swooping up in an attempt to grab the bandanas from Monoma’s neck.

High-fiving another of his teammates with a spare hand, Monoma’s forearm began to spin rapidly, allowing him to deflect Dark Shadow’s attack.

_ Yup - close-ranged quirk and a defensive quirk, as well as what looks like contact-based mimicry judging by the high-five. Whatever the last guy’s got, it has to be similarly limited, since he didn’t use it for ranged offense or as part of their defense. _

“Tokoyami.”

“Yes, Midoriya?”

“Call Dark Shadow back - they’re a heavily turtling team, we’ll just waste each others’ time like this.”

* * *

“Time’s coming up - we should make our move.”

“Got it. Making cover!”

Yaoyorozu produced a folded umbrella and an attached cable from her free hand, pointing it into the air at Reiko and opening it.

“Kaminari!”

The electricity user nodded. “On it!”

Grabbing the cable, he let his quirk flow into it, feeding electricity into the umbrella and powering a laser pointer hidden in the device.

Reiko’s eyes widened with sheer panic as the red dot appeared on her chest, and she pulled into a nearly-uncontrolled dive, avoiding a shot from a net launcher Yaoyorozu had concealed within the umbrella.

“Now!”

“RECIPRO BURST!”

It happened so fast Izuku could barely follow it - a huge burst of exhaust billowing from his engines, Iida suddenly gained a huge amount of speed and propelled his team past the falling Reiko and straight to the other side of the arena. At the same time, Todoroki was able to reach out and snag the Ten Million Point headband off of Reiko’s neck.

Bakugou launched himself into the air immediately afterwards, aiming for Todoroki.

“Deku, what’s the plan?”

“They’re across the arena from us - we can’t pursue. It’s disappointing, but we should at least have our positions secured, as long as nobody gets the drop on us in these last seconds.”

“5”

“4”

“3”

“2”

“Hey, you’re Midoriya from 1-A, right?”

“1”

“FINISH! Everyone stop grabbing headbands!”

Izuku looked over at the person who had addressed him - the purple-haired kid from 1-B. “Yeah, what did you want?”

The kid looked surprised and somehow slightly disappointed. “Never mind.”

“The top four teams in the final are as follows: Team Todoroki, with first place! Team Midoriya, at second! Team Bakugou in third! And, finally, Team Shinsou in Fourth!”

Reiko, who had lost the entirety of her score within the last minute, just stood there with shaking hands, staring into the distance in disbelief.

“Now then - as we have only three members in Team Midoriya, could fifth place Team Tetsutetsu please choose a member to enter the tournament so we have a nice 16-man bracket?”

* * *

“Sorry about the delay, folks - a few members of Team Shinsou have elected to withdraw, prompting us to select a few more members from Team Tetsutetsu. But without further ado - your bracket for the final, traditional, Tournament Round!”

A bracket of matchups was displayed, facing each section of audience stands, as well as another display for the actual participants.

**Midoriya vs Todoroki**   
**Sero vs Iida**   
**Uraraka vs Awase**

The screen flickered almost the instant the matchups were displayed - even with what little he had been able to read in that moment, Izuku realized that the before and after were altered. Nobody else commented on this fact, however.

**Midoriya vs Shinsou**   
**Shiozaki vs Tokoyami**   
**Todoroki vs Sero**   
**Aoyama vs Kirishima**

**Ashido vs Yaoyorozu**   
**Iida vs Awase**   
**Tetsutetsu vs Kaminari**   
**Bakugou vs Uraraka**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaaaaaa why is the Cavalry Battle so hard to write (it's because a lot of what happens in the manga is just shown rather than written, there's a ton of stuff going on with a bunch of different groups, and the time remaining feels generally nebulous, which all contributed to giving me a headache as I wrote it. Least I'm on to 1v1 fights now.).
> 
> I actually made a random bracket using challonge just for the purpose of listing Izuku's matchup and two random matchups from the pre-rigging bracket.


	12. Performer Selection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first round of the one-on-one tournament.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Character Select theme from Hopeless Masquerade, fitting for the chapter that winnows down the participants in the one-on-one battles to half their number and contains more than half of the tournament fights due to the nature of single-elimination brackets. Though, it's actually my least favorite of the Touhou fighting games' character select themes.

“You caught that too, right?”

“Yep - bracket just got rigged.”

“Want me to beat some sense into, uh, ‘her’?”

“I’m gonna say this as nicely as possible:  _ please do not get into a fight with Yakumo Yukari in the middle of a massively popular public event _ .”

* * *

Tsukauchi checked the wiring on the headset he was monitoring the Midoriyas’ VIP box with. It was plugged in on both ends and the cable was in good condition. Finding no obvious issues, he slid the headset back on in time to catch Hisashi saying “Didn’t sound like a joke, and knowing you, it wasn’t.”

Strange - the audio had cut out for a moment. He’d need to let Nezu know they may want to check their surveillance system wiring.

* * *

“And we have the first round! Anything he touches is clay, and he is the sculptor! In the blue corner, we have 1-A’s master of transformation, Midoriya Izuku!”

“We don't even have colored corners for this ring,” Aizawa grumbled, barely audible.

“And in the red corner! The master of manipulation himself, the verbal virtuoso, Shinsou Hitoshi!”

“‘Virtuoso’ is really stretching it,” a General Studies student muttered.

“Yeah,” another agreed, “he mainly just insults people and looks down on them. Then again, guess they don't have anything else to hype him with. He wouldn't even be in the Hero course if that kid hadn't gone missing.”

The two combatants stepped into the ring, Midnight checking them over. “As a reminder, the rules of the one-on-one round are simple. If you are knocked unconscious, leave the ring for any reason, or declare your forfeit, then you lose. You are not allowed to bring anything into the matches that you were disallowed from bringing into the festival itself, but other than that, everything's allowed.”

“Midoriya, huh?” Shinsou said, scratching his head through his purple hair. “Good luck - may the best man win.”

Izuku remembered what Ojirou had told him before the match.

_ “I can't remember anything from when he spoke to me until after the cavalry battle ended.” _

_ “So do you think he can wipe memories?” _

_ “No. I was in a different place than before, and if he could convince me to join his team he wouldn't have needed to wipe my memory. I think he's got Mind Control.” _

He stayed silent.

Shinsou sighed. “He told you, huh? Makes my job harder.”

He took a wary, but clumsy fighting stance - indicative of some amount of combat training, but ultimately very little.

“I don't get people like that,” the tired boy continued, “obsessed with ‘honor’ and ‘fairness’. Half of general studies is howling for my blood because they think I don't deserve to be here, that I haven't earned a spot in Heroics, that I somehow ‘cheated’ because someone else didn't accept their spot. They’d give anything to be up here right now. And that  _ monkey _ just throws his spot away? What a moron.”

“What did you-”

Izuku's eyes went blank.

Shinsou grinned. “And that's game. Walk out of the ring, please.”

* * *

Mamizou let out a whistle. “Mind control, huh? That's a rarity, all right.”

Inko wrung her hands nervously. “Do- do you think that’s it?”

“As his power is now - absolutely. Izuku can’t break out without outside intervention. He could still surprise us, though.”

* * *

Izuku's legs began to carry him to the edge of the ring against his will. He needed to do something, anything, to jolt himself out of Shinsou's control. If he could just manage to move his fingers he could touch his pants - would that even help? Would he be disqualified for stripping?

_ Probably not, they did say ‘anything goes’ and there was that kid a couple years ago whose quirk stripped him mid-event. _

Even if he could somehow touch his pants he'd need to make something that would be able to jolt him immediately, without needing further input - his mind raced with ideas as he drew closer to the ring’s edge, there wasn't enough time, if he could only trip or something - the ground was flat stone, nothing to trip on.

As he took another mindless step, his foot sank slightly into mud that definitely wasn’t there before and slid out ahead of him. He fell on his back, knocking him free of his opponent's quirk. Shinsou ran up, panic clear on his face, to attempt to kick Izuku into unconsciousness before he could recover.

It was too late - Izuku had pushed himself into a crouching position by the time the 1-B student reached him, and seized the incoming foot with a grip like an iron vise. The brainwasher struggled for a bit, trying to keep a good fighting stance - nearly impossible when one of your legs is in the opponent’s hand.

Finally, he relented. “I forfeit.”

* * *

Mamizou and Inko made for a strange sight as they toasted to Izuku's victory - a fit, lean, man with messy green hair, laughing uproariously and happily, paired with a slightly chubby woman wiping away tears of mixed nervousness and happiness, toasting with an equally dissonant pairing of a full bottle of sake and a significantly more restrained glass.

It was Mamizou's fifth bottle of the event, and the disguised tanuki drained it in a single long, uninterrupted swig before tossing the empty bottle over her shoulder into the trash.

“I don’t get it, what happened there?” Sumireko asked.

“People’s powers often develop in unexpected ways once they start using them regularly. Something like ‘creating ice’ actually being ‘manipulation of cold’, for instance.”

Inko smiled. “Certainly a more significant example than I would have used - a classmate of mine back in high school had a ‘hair growth’ quirk that actually extended to all keratin. She had never tried using it on her nails before.”

Sumireko recalled her own long hours of practicing her Ability in secret, pulling down trees and warping space until she figured out how to teleport herself, create fire, and generally do almost anything associated with psychic powers. The idea that someone might think their own power had hard restrictions was foreign to her. “Oh, so his ability to transform objects…”

Mamizou patted down her pockets looking for more tobacco to pack her kiseru. “...wasn’t actually tied to his hands, it would seem. He just thought it was because it was easier to use that way. The question is how soon until he can do that at will, and how much further he can take it.”

_ Ugh, _ she thought to herself,  _ I’m going to have to thank Yakumo for this, and that means being  _ ** _civil_ ** _ to that damn fox of hers. _

* * *

“Now that we’ve repaired the minor damage to the ring,”

_ It was one tile, _ Izuku thought to himself, slightly embarrassed to be the reason for the delay,  _ Cementoss fixed it in five, maybe ten seconds. _

“We can get on with the second fight! First up, we have the holy woman of class 1-B! Her faith gives her strength: Shiozaki Ibara!”

A girl with long, thorny vines for hair stepped into the ring. A pair of the vines had been carefully braided with each other and tied around her head, forming the appearance of a crown of thorns.

“How unseemly,” Shiozaki muttered, “Though I am a follower of His teachings, to presume to call myself a ‘holy woman’ would be unacceptably prideful.”

“And, her opponent, 1-A’s master of darkness, the lord of shadows, Tokoyami Fumikage!”

Dark Shadow emerged from the bird-headed boy’s shadow, resting an arm on Tokoyami’s shoulder.

“BEGIN!”

A wave of vines immediately shot out towards Tokoyami, sweeping up and around with an aim to completely encase him and stop his movements. Dark Shadow wasn't fast enough to stop all of them - it battered and tore at the wall of plant matter to no avail, struggling even as it disappeared into a thorny cocoon along with its owner.

Midnight waited for a moment to see if there was any sign of a comeback. Just as she began to raise her arm to declare Shiozaki's victory, a muffled roar emanated from the bundle of vines before a significantly larger Dark Shadow tore its way out.

Fixing its gaze on Shiozaki, the berserk quirk threw itself at the girl, shrinking rapidly in the sunlight. Ducking down, the vine-haired girl pulled her hair together and swept it upwards, redirecting the raging shadow's momentum up and over her head.

Tokoyami was dragged along for the ride as his quirk flew out of the ring, landing on the ground as it returned to its normal size.

“Tokoyami has left the ring! Shiozaki moves on to the next round!” Midnight declared.

* * *

Izuku frantically jotted notes into his journal, muttering frantically the whole time.

“So Dark Shadow grows stronger in darkness? Makes sense, but it seems uncontrollable when that happens - I suppose that’s the drawback of a sentient quirk. Maybe he could use some portable lights to direct it if he can’t find a way to control it, though obviously actually being able to control the quirk would be far better… Meanwhile, Shiozaki’s vines are extremely versatile and effective, and I have no way to cut through them fast enough to take them on directly. The best strategy is probably to avoid them while I go for her, there’s a slight delay when they change directions so if I can dodge the initial rush…”

“Wow,” Uraraka said with an impressed tone, “Your match only just ended but you’re already planning ahead for your next opponent, how diligent.”

He was slightly embarrassed to realize she had been watching him. “I, uh, this is sort of just a hobby of mine, I’ve always been really fascinated by peoples’ quirks, and this is the first time we’ve really been able to see the other classes in action.”

He flipped back a few pages in his notes, turning the book towards her to display the pages detailing Uraraka’s own quirk and possible applications of it.

“I’ve got stuff on our own class here, too, even your Zero Gravity, Uraraka!”

She was speechless for a moment as she looked over the pages. He had even jotted notes on possible fighting styles she could use, as well as ideas for possible uses she hadn’t even tested. She’d never considered looking into her quirk in that much detail, and she had lived with the thing for eleven years now! He’d even written out an idea for a shapeshifting glove that could retract from her fingertips and effectively let her turn her quirk ‘off’, and noted Pro Heroes’ outfits that incorporated similar design elements to show it was possible!

“I’ve always thought you were amazing, Deku, ever since the day we met, but the Sports Festival is really letting you show that.” 

* * *

“Born to the best, raised by the best, and trained by the best: the heir of the number two hero Endeavor, Todoroki Shoto!”

Todoroki’s eyes flashed with anger, though he didn’t say a word.

“And his opponent: though his presence in 1-A speaks volumes about his ability, he’s still as plain as they come, Sero Hanta!”

Sero stretched his arms as he took his position. “They could’ve given me a better introduction…”

The moment Midnight signaled the start of the round, he immediately shot two bands of tape at Todoroki, wrapping around the boy's shoulders and knees in an attempt to restrict his movement. Wasting no time, he whipped his arms to the left, flinging Todoroki through the air in an attempt to eliminate his opponent via ring-out before he could react.

The temperature dropped noticeably as the tape around Todoroki's body froze and shattered, releasing the boy. His motion, in turn, was stopped by a pillar of ice that formed to tie him to the ground before he whipped his right hand forward, fury in his eyes.

Before anyone in the audience could even flinch, a massive glacier had formed in the arena, encasing Sero up to his neck at the front end of it and ballooning outwards behind him to the point that it was threatening the stands.

“Um… Sero, are you able to free yourself from that?” Midnight asked.

“That's a joke, right?”

“Sero has been immobilized! Todoroki Shoto advances to the next round!”

Someone in the stands shouted out, “You did your best!” As Todoroki began to thaw Sero out of the glacier.

* * *

“Next up: the dazzling Aoyama Yuuga against the fierce bruiser Kirishima Eijirou!”

“ _ Merci _ for the introduction, Mon Ami,” Aoyama said, striking a pose.

“There's no way he can hear you, dude.”

“It's still polite to thank him!”

The moment the start of the match was signaled, Kirishima hardened up. Immediately, a beam from Aoyama's stomach slammed into him, shoving him back slightly but leaving him otherwise unfazed.

He grinned. “Is that all you got?”

Aoyama's smile slightly faltered, but the blond continued to fire beams while backing away from Kirishima's reinforced advance.

Soon enough, it became apparent to the audience that this fight was going to be nothing like the previous two crowd-pleasers. Aoyama had no chance in close combat and he knew it, ducking across the ring to keep away from his opponent.

Kirishima, meanwhile, was too resilient for Aoyama to pose a threat, but too slow to catch up to the nimble boy while keeping himself hardened and braced. One For All would let him handle it no problem, but he was unwilling to injure himself just to end the fight faster - such a tactic would be suicidal in a real fight.

As a result, a decent portion of the crowd was ready for the fight to end when Aoyama finally bent over in pain, his quirk's effects on his stomach finally too great to continue fighting.

Someone towards the front of the stands threw a tomato onto the field, an extremely ill-advised decision that nearly immediately got him tackled by around a dozen pro heroes and a police officer.

* * *

“Class 1-A’s ace, the brilliant Yaoyorozu Momo, can create anything her mind desires! Let’s hope that her stuff is acid-proof, though, if she’s going up against Ashido Mina!”

Yaoyorozu took a slow, steady breath, trying to calm her nerves.

“I still need to pay you back for the battle trials,” Ashido called across the ring.

The moment the round started, the pink girl started laying down a layer of acid, skating towards her opponent with impressive speed. Yaoyorozu froze up, realizing only a moment before the acid-user reached her that she needed to make something and hastily producing a shield. The acid sizzled and hissed as it splattered on the metal - she had forgotten to give it an acid-resistant coating.

_ What’s acid-resistant again? Certain steels, but they need the right molecular arrangements… _

Yaoyorozu was doing an impressive job of dodging, considering she was also frantically trying to remember what material she needed on the fly. She tried to stall for time by producing a flashbang grenade - she had practiced that one until she could do it on reflex.

Mina immediately doused the trigger mechanism with acid. “Oh no you don’t! Had enough of those, thank you very much!”

Backing up further, Yaoyorozu realized with a sickening lurch in her stomach that she had reached the edge of the ring and began to topple off. She immediately produced a staff to steady herself - aluminum, a simple element that was the first one that came to mind. Smirking, Mina flung some more acid onto it.

It didn’t melt.

Taking advantage of her opponent’s momentary confusion, Yaoyorozu heaved herself back up into the ring and went on the offensive, battering Ashido with a series of quick, efficient strikes while staying cautious of the lingering pools of acid. When the pink girl stumbled, falling onto her back, she moved in for the finishing blow, only to be taken off-guard when her opponent made use of her inherent acid resistance to begin spinning around in it, using a series of spinning movements more akin to breakdancing than actual fighting techniques and throwing Yaoyorozu’s strategy completely off.

A foot hooked onto the staff and wrenched it to the side, causing the ponytailed girl to stumble and fall out of the ring.

* * *

“Class 1-A’s very own speed king Iida Tenya faces off against 1-B's immobility master Awase Yosetsu!”

_ Great, _ Yosetsu thought to himself,  _ nothing I can actually use for Welding. _

He braced himself for the incoming rush - this was going to be a tough fight. He could only hope he could keep his guard up as Iida picked at him from any direction the bespectacled boy pleased.

Before he could even realize what Iida was planning, his shoulders had been grabbed and he’d been shoved out of the ring.

* * *

“ _ Yeeeesh _ Awase got a bad draw, huh?” Kinoko asked, turning to Monoma. “He’d have had trouble with that speed even if he did have something to work with.”

Monoma was steadfastly attempting to crush the arms of his seat with his hands, furiously muttering about “bias against 1-B” and “rigged brackets”

“Dude, chill,” Kaibara remarked from the seat next to the blond. “No way did UA rig the matches, we’ve got one win so far, and Tetsutetsu hasn't even gone yet.”

* * *

“Next up, we have a truly electrifying battle: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu the iron man of 1-B against Kaminari Denki - Raijin brought down to mortality!”

Aizawa stifled an uncharacteristic snort of laughter at the pun.

“If you wanna surrender, do it now,” Kaminari said with a smirk, lightning playing across his fingers. “I don’t think me electrifying your metal body’s gonna be pretty.”

Tetsutetsu’s body took on a metallic tinge as he activated his quirk. “I think I like my chances just fine, thank you.”

“Your funeral.”

Tetsutetsu boldly threw himself into Kaminari’s arms as the electricity-wielder unleashed the greatest voltage he could with a yell of “Indiscriminate Shock!”. The more squeamish members of the crowd looked away from what they assumed was a suicidal move. Others watched, transfixed.

After a moment, the sparking of electricity stopped. Tetsutetsu tapped Kaminari on the shoulder as the boy stood there dazed. He turned to Midnight.

“Hey, he seems to have fried himself! I don’t think he can fight anymore, do I really have to throw him out of the ring?”

“No, if he’s really unable to keep fighting then it’s your win without needing to ring out or knock him unconscious.”

* * *

Present Mic chattered excitedly as the medical bots grabbed an idly compliant Kaminari and led him off the field “Absolutely amazing interaction of quirks right there - that gamble on Tetsutetsu’s part really paid off for him! Aizawa, why don’t you explain to our viewers just what that was?”

“You know this. I know you know this, working with electronics is one of your favorite hobbies, why are you asking me to explain this?”

“Because it’s no fun if I’m just monologuing into the microphone all the time, come on, work with me here!”

Aizawa heaved a sigh directly into the mic. “Tetsutetsu’s quirk allows him to protect himself by turning into metal. However, since he can still move and, more importantly, breathe while under its effects, he made the assumption that it either acted only as a shell, or that the metal in different parts of his body had different traits to mimic the organs - crucially, including different conductivities.”

“And what exactly does that  _ mean _ for their fight, Eraserhead?”

Another sigh. “An electrical field, when applied to the metal coating his body causes the charges within his metallic surface to align in such a way as to cancel the effects on his interior. In essence, he’s got a natural Faraday Cage, making him immune to electrocution.”

“There you have it folks - you can’t always guess how a battle’s gonna turn out at first glance!”

“That outcome was easily foreseeable, though.”

“Mute your mic if you’re gonna snark at my commentary!”

* * *

Uraraka sat in the prep room trying to psyche herself up for her match against Bakugou. Memories of the boy’s savagery during the battle trial on the first day came to her mind immediately. Though she hadn’t been there to see him fight in person, she had seen the footage afterwards as part of a review they had done a week later. He was a vicious, cunning opponent - the sort who definitely wouldn’t hold back, no, who’d view it as an  _ insult _ for either himself or his opponent to hold back.

On top of that, his quirk had the definite power and maneuverability advantage. This was going to be an uphill battle for sure.

“-raka! Hello? Are you feeling ok?”

She snapped back to reality, realizing that Izuku was both shaking her and calling her name. Blinking a few times, she turned to him. “Yeah, I’m fine, sorry - I was just thinking about the upcoming match.”

“Yeah, they’ll probably call you up in a moment. Listen, you’ve helped me out so much so far at UA, so I wanted to return the favor. I made this on the fly, so it might be a bit rough around the edges, but it’s a strategy for fighting against Bakugou - one that uses your Quirk.” He held a journal out to her.

She stared at it for a moment, her mind blanking for some reason. After a moment, the odd feeling passed. “Thanks, Deku, but I’m going to do this on my own.”

“Huh?”

“You do amazing things all the time, without needing any help, while I just joined up with you during the cavalry battle because I thought it would be easiest to team up with friends. Even then, I guess I was just relying on you again. But not anymore - I need to do this without your help. We’re all fighting for our futures here, so that makes us all rivals.” 

She gave him a thumbs-up as she headed for the door. “I’ll see you in the finals!”

* * *

“And now for the final match of round 1! He’s stood out from the rest since his middle-school days, the ever-explosive Bakugou Katsuki of 1-A! And against him, my personal pick for the match, also of 1-A, Uraraka Ochako!”

“Round Face.” Bakugou said, an intimidating glint in his eyes. “If you’re gonna back down, do it now. I won’t hold back.”

She could smell the burnt sugar scent of his nitroglycerin sweat even from across the arena. Steeling her nerves, she met his eyes with a determined gaze of her own.

“START!”

Uraraka immediately broke into a run, dropping to an animalistic all-fours scramble to minimize her profile and present a smaller target for Bakugou’s explosions. Initially surprised by her speed, the blond quickly recovered and whipped his right hand forward, unleashing a blast before she had time to react and change course or block.

As Uraraka was thrown backwards, he took a few steps back from the smokescreen his explosion had created, to give himself more time to react to further attack.

A UA sports jumpsuit began to emerge from the smoke -  _ too easy _ , Bakugou realized,  _ Round Face hangs with Deku, she’s smarter than that - and the way the sleeve is fluttering, there’s no arm in it. _

He slammed an arm down on the empty shirt, unleashing another explosion and sweeping his arm back to project the blast to his right - the only side with enough smoke to cover a flanking movement.

As he expected, Uraraka went flying again, visible in the brief moment of clarity before the smoke filled in the gap opened by the shockwave again.

* * *

The crowd watched in disgust as Bakugou blasted Uraraka away again for the umpteenth time that match.

“Doesn’t matter how good you are, you can’t dodge blasts of that size that close.”

“She’s just desperate at this point, the match is already decided.”

A pro in a brilliant white outfit stood up, pointing to the ring, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Hey! That’s not how a Hero should act! You’re clearly stronger than her, just end it! Stop toying with the poor girl!”

Aizawa’s furious voice immediately responded, practically screaming into the mic, “Who just said he’s toying with her!? Is it a Pro!? How long!?”

A hush fell over the crowd as the erasure hero’s tirade continued.

“If that’s all you’re getting from this, then you should just leave right now and start looking at job sites. There’s no point in you watching. She’s come just as far as he has - he’s not toying with her, he’s being  _ careful _ , A concept apparently foreign to you. He’s making sure he doesn’t make any massive moves that leave any openings for her to exploit.”

* * *

Mamizou grinned as she lit another pipeful of tobacco. “Clever.”

Sumireko, however, was outraged. “Hey, that looks like ‘Illegal Dumping’!”

“That’s not even yer best move.”

“I can still be angry!”

* * *

Uraraka gave an exhausted smile. “Thanks for keeping your guard up and not ending this quickly, Bakugou.”

Slamming her fingertips together, she released her quirk.

Bakugou looked to the sky in sudden realization as her weapons began to fall - pieces of debris, hundreds of them, varied in size from pebbles to fist-sized chunks of stone, carefully gathered and thrown into the air by her quirk while her low charges had kept Bakugou’s eyes from ever drifting skyward and spotting her trap before it was sprung.

And now, the jaws of that trap were closing around her prey.

_ Whether he dodges or repels this, it’ll give me an opening - I just need to close the gap in that instant, and I can win this. _

Bakugou flung both his hands skywards, unleashing a tremendous blast, larger than any he had used without his gauntlets. Even without being the direct target, it knocked her back. Her entire rain of projectiles was completely vaporized.

“Knew you were up to something,” he said, voice slightly shaky. She could smell something… off. It didn’t smell like burnt sugar - was he running out of his explosive sweat?

“Now then - let’s get serious, shall we?”

She was about to collapse when she saw it - blood, dripping from a cut on his arm. His blast hadn’t been enough to deflect her full attack. She had gotten through his defense! The sight gave her a second wind, and she rushed forward once more, mouth open and panting hard.

Her hesitation in the face of his last attack had given him time to recover, sealing her fate - Bakugou’s knee slammed into her chin, slamming her jaw shut and knocking her unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thinking about the quirk interactions for the fights was a bunch of fun, even if I realized halfway in that I had sort of ended up with a bunch of one-sided fights.
> 
> Shiozaki gives Tokoyami shade to amp up Dark Shadow, but it's still uncontrollable at this point and will also quickly lose strength once he's out. She's also one of the stronger contenders in the tournament, imo - her quirk is nuts.
> 
> I don't think Aoyama can really do much to Kirishima normally at this point, and I've given him One For All on top of that, so it was going to be a win for him, just a question of "does he need to actually bust out OFA"
> 
> Mina v Yaoyorozu was one that I went back and forth on a bit. I eventually figured that Yaoyorozu doesn't seem super confident at this point, and despite the versatility of her quirk the manga has her only using a shield and a hastily-produced square panel in the face of Tokoyami blitzing her.
> 
> Awase is fast at using his quirk, but he needs material for it and Iida's fast enough to make it a tricky proposition.
> 
> In Kaminari's case, the pun Present Mic is making is that Raijin's name is a combination of the characters for "thunder" and "god", and the character for thunder can also be read as "Kaminari" (Kaminari himself has different kanji for his family name). In turn, Tetsutetsu being called the iron man is referring to the horror film Tetsuo the Iron Man.
> 
> Bakugou vs Uraraka is basically the same as canon.


	13. Highly Responsive to Prayers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The One-on-One Matches wrap up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 150 kudos! Wow! Far more kudos than the number of hits I expected this would get when I first conceived it. Guess persistence pays off.
> 
> Theme for the first set of Makai levels in the first Touhou game, also called Highly Responsive to Prayers. These levels led up to the YuugenMagan boss fight, but, well, YuugenMagan's already made its appearance in this fic.

“Let's get started with the second round! First up, Midoriya Izuku showed us a glimpse of his strength with an amazing comeback last round, using his quirk to escape his opponent’s control even without being able to move his limbs!”

Izuku awkwardly shrank in on himself - he wasn't even sure how he had done that, and hadn’t been able to replicate it so far. It seemed sort of wrong to him, to be praised for something he hadn’t intentionally done.

“His opponent is 1-B’s Shiozaki Ibara, who demonstrated her versatility with a dominating performance, using her vines both for offense and defense!”

The vine-haired girl made no indication she had heard Present Mic’s commentary, eyes closed and hands clasped in silent prayer. She opened her eyes as Midnight signaled the match start.

“Begin!”

Just as with Tokoyami, Shiozaki's first move was to send her hair out in a massive wave, seeking simply to overwhelm Izuku with the sheer breadth of her offense. He rushed forward, hoping that he hadn’t been mistaken in his observation of her round. 

There - an opening in her attack, one that appeared only briefly as an effect of how she partitioned her vines. If he had waited, it would have closed as the vines sent to the right and left rejoined into the cocoon trap, but by rushing into the attack he was able to escape through it. His arm caught on a thorn as he dove through the opening, landing on the bed of plant matter and rolling to his feet.

* * *

Kirishima let out a cheer of excitement. “Yo, that was super manly, diving through her attack like that! No fear at all, he just went for it!”

“I see that my inglorious defeat yielded fruit, at least.” Tokoyami said, a small smile on his beak. “That technique is a devious one - I was completely unable to see the weakness in it, to my shame.”

Ashido, however, wasn't so jubilant. “Uh, guys, does Midoriya seem okay to you?”

“What do you mean? Midoriya’s one of the toughest guys in the class. Recovery Girl always just sends him back and the only thing that really slowed him down was that USJ villain.”

She pointed Kirishima's attention to one of the monitors set up to give a close-up of the fighting.

* * *

“ _ Shit, _ ” Mamizou cursed under her breath.

Sumireko didn't even glance up from her phone. “What is it?”

“That's someone who can actually hurt a youkai.”

* * *

Izuku's right arm burned like it had been doused in boiling water. It was also bleeding, but that was a lesser concern. Shiozaki’s thorns must have had some kind of poison in them - his arm was already starting to feel numb. He couldn't let her hit him too many more times.

More worryingly, she could harm him as easily as though he hadn’t gained his youkai abilities. He hadn't seen his own blood since before the Sludge Villain incident, close to a year ago now.

The vines writhed around him, drawing back to give themselves the space for another rush - apparently Shiozaki’s control of their movement was best towards the tips of the tendrils, forcing her to maneuver them longer distances after a narrow miss.

He took advantage of the extra time by reaching down and using his Ability on the floor of the ring, turning it into a large metal sheet and flipping it up to use as a shield against the next attack.

It came soon enough - an onslaught of foliage from his left apparently aiming to simply force him out of the ring. He quickly adjusted his makeshift barrier to intercept it, bracing himself as the tide of plant matter crashed around him like a rock in the middle of rapids. As the vines slowed, he grabbed one - careful to avoid touching the thorns, now that he knew they could harm him - and tore it off so it was no longer part of Shiozaki before turning it into a machete and beginning to hack away at the mass of greenery.

He almost didn’t notice the second wave of vines that swept in from above, only just barely managing to clamber up his metal sheet in time. The vines grazed against him regardless, pain blossoming through his body as the vines raked across his back.

This wasn’t working - her vines were just too much for him to cleanly dodge, and each scratch she left made his defeat draw closer. Did Tokoyami have to deal with this? He seemed fine after being cocooned by her. Was she somehow more effective since he was a youkai?

Although he had cut back a third of her vines, she still had enough to continue her assault. He needed an opening. 

Transforming his weapon into a club, he hurled the blunt weapon at Shiozaki. She reacted to the projectile with shock, breaking from her prayers to duck the object. Wasting no time, he ran in to engage her in close combat, fighting through the burning numbness in his arm to try to keep her from regaining the focus or space needed to make the best use of her vines. Whatever power had been enhancing her attacks earlier had disappeared, and he barely felt the few lashes she sent his way as he attacked.

Shiozaki faltered under his assault, slowly ceding ground as she simultaneously tried to stop him from landing a decisive hit and use her vines despite the problems posed by their length at such close quarters. It was a difficult task, made even harder by Izuku’s strength - his youkai heritage made him a fair bit stronger than he appeared, even if he didn't descend from one of the stronger types like an Oni or Tengu.

Finally, she made a mistake, placing her foot wrong and losing her footing. She fell onto her back and, with a silent prayer for victory, lashed out with the two vines she had kept wrapped around her head as a crown.

Weakened from the fight, Izuku was unable to dodge the attack at such close range. The thorny vines, their strength renewed by her devotion, lashed across his shoulders like flaming whips.

Izuku lost consciousness.

* * *

Mamizou stared at the arena, unresponsive. Inko had already hurried off to locate UA's infirmary.

At last, the elder tanuki spoke. “I’m going to kill her.” She said, disconcertingly calmly. “I am going to cut the gap hag open and rip her heart out with my bare hands.”

“I’m going to say this as nicely as possible:  _ Please do not get into a fight with Yakumo Yukari in the middle of a massively popular public event, _ ” Sumireko echoed sarcastically, earning herself a glare from the furious youkai.

“Okay, seriously, lighten up. Plants-for-brains there had no idea what she was doing, and wouldn’t have been able to fully exterminate Izuku without going for a killing blow that the ref would’ve stopped. She’s just throwing raw faith around without an idea of how to actually channel it. Not even samurai-level, those guys could use it on their swords. She wouldn’t have been able to do anything with it if her vines weren’t part of her.”

“I’ve seen enough youkai get exterminated by hunters they underestimated for ‘she didn’t know what she was doing’ to be little comfort to me.”

Sumireko idly pulled up her social media feed on her phone, scrolling through it disinterestedly. “Then think of it this way instead: fighting people who can use faith is a blind spot for him, and now he knows that. Were you just assuming he wouldn’t run into anyone who knew how to do that?”

“I-”

“You were worshipped as a god, Byakuren is a devout Buddhist, and the highest-ranking priest in her temple is simultaneously a tiger youkai and an avatar of Bishamonten. The Taoists have that necromancer of theirs who’s refined her practices enough to become a Hermit despite being, like, one of the worst people I’ve heard of and someone who heaven refuses to acknowledge. You can't just assume it won’t come up.”

Mamizou hung her head in defeat. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it - figuring things yourself out is one thing, teaching them is another entirely. You spent centuries leading a pack of youkai who’d figure things out for themselves and the most you would have to worry about is taking revenge if one of them got injured. Now go check on your son already.”

* * *

Power Loader scratched his head. “Yeah, it looks like it should be fine - there’s no issue with the wiring on this end that I can see, and the diagnostics say all the monitoring equipment should be working fine. You sure they just haven’t left or gone quiet?”

Tsukauchi shook his head. “They were in the middle of a conversation when the feed cut, Midoriya’s mother was in the middle of saying she was going to find the infirmary.”

The hero put the headphones on his head for a moment before taking them off. “Yeah, I'm hearing some faint tapping - I think the Midoriyas have left and their guest is just looking at things on a phone or something. I can open up the walls to check the wiring after the event’s done, just to be sure, but as it stands there’s nothing I can do that won't make it obvious we're monitoring them, and I know how you police types are about that.”

* * *

“Next up, the ice-cold powerhouse Todoroki Shouto takes the field! He’s blown through every round so far without losing his cool - will Kirishima Eijirou be the one to break that streak?”

Neither competitor made a comment. The moment Midnight began to raise her arm to signal the start of the match, Todoroki simultaneously created a chunk of ice behind him and let loose a massive wave of ice, comparable to the one he had used on Sero. Kirishima immediately responded with an enhanced punch, shattering the inbound ice before it could fully form.

“That won't work on me, Todoroki,” he yelled, clutching his cracked and bleeding arm.

Todoroki simply let loose another wave, smaller than the first, that Kirishima was able to punch through with the aid of Hardening, activating his quirk and throwing himself shoulder-first at the ice to shatter it before it could immobilize him.

“I wouldn’t have realized it without my own Quirk’s recoil, but you have some kind of limit too, don’t you? That’s why you’ve tried to end every fight quickly so far. So if I draw this out, then it’s just a manly battle of endurance!”

* * *

Endeavor  _ fumed _ , prompting several nearby spectators to scooch away from the heat radiating from his seat. The number two hero had been too cheap to spring for a VIP box. 

“Shouto, this boy should be nothing more than a  _ pebble _ in your path,” he muttered. “Are you really going to throw away a sure victory over some childish rebellion?”

* * *

A shiver ran up Todoroki’s spine as he sent out more ice. Kirishima’s statement wasn’t wrong - he had a definite limit before he grew too cold to continue. He couldn’t use another massive glacier like he had used to open the match or to defeat Sero, due to the amount of cold needed to generate the attack. At most, he’d be able to go even with Kirishima’s most powerful, self-damaging punches, but then he’d be at his limit and Hardening would give his opponent the advantage. Closing in was a bad idea for the same reason, Kirishima thrived in close quarters.

“You’re shivering,” Kirishima stated, no,  _ accused. _ “You aren’t immune to the temperatures of your own quirk.”

Gritting his teeth against the biting chill in his arm, Todoroki loosed another wave of ice. 

“You have fire, don’t you!? You’ve thawed people out after sparring matches before - use it!”

His body was growing numb from the cold - the waves of ice he sent out were weaker, smaller than before. Kirishima’s rocky body seemed less conductive of the cold, that or his exertion to break through each wall of ice was keeping him warm. Regardless, Todoroki could see him panting through jagged teeth, a clear sign that the extended combat was wearing on his stamina.

“What happens if a villain shows up and your ice doesn’t work? You can’t just stand by and watch as innocent people pay the price!”

“Shut. UP.” Todoroki grunted out, putting his full right side to work and creating the largest burst of ice since the start of the match. Sluggish and debilitated from the cold, he misjudged Kirishima’s approach, and the ice was aimed too far away, spreading out only once it had passed his opponent. The audience in the front rows flinched away from the incoming wall of frost before realizing it wasn’t quite large enough to put them at risk.

* * *

Returning to her spectator seat in time to watch Todoroki’s ice wave miss a target directly in front of him, Reiko stifled a snort of laughter.

Jirou shot her a sideways glance. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t get it.”

* * *

Now in front of his opponent, Kirishima let out a bellow of “DON’T HOLD ANYTHING BACK, TODOROKI!” as he swung in with a punch from his good arm, sheathed in red lightning.

Instinctively, Todoroki’s left side flared up as the attack came in, but the flames were too small, too insignificant to do anything. Kirishima’s fist slammed into Todoroki and launched him from the ring.

Midnight was quick to announce the resolution of the match. “Todoroki has been launched out of bounds! Kirishima Eijirou is the winner of this round!”

Kirishima let his arms dangle limply as he watched the medical bots carry Todoroki off to the infirmary. “I’ve been there, Todoroki,” he said, faintly, to himself. “You don’t want to have to stand there watching something terrible happen because you can’t bring yourself to intervene. You want to be able to look back on your life and say you have no regrets.”

“Kirishima Eijirou,” beeped a medical bot that rolled up behind him, “it is advised that you report to Recovery Girl after a match of that intensity.”

“Yeah, I’m going.”

* * *

Izuku blinked awake to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling.

“It’s the UA infirmary. Doubt you’ve been here before, not for very long at least. They turned Inko away at the door - guess it’s school policy that only students or faculty can be in here.”

Turning his head, he saw a bespectacled Uraraka sitting next to his bed with a look of worry on her face. She fiddled with a hair ornament in the shape of a leaf - a key tell as to who it really was.

“That was quite a fight you put up, Izuku! Honestly surprised, yer a tougher customer than I thought.”

Izuku couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes, instead fixating on the television that had been set up for students to watch the matches. Iida had grabbed Mina by the shoulders and was running her towards the arena’s edge while she was powerless to stop him.

_ Not good, Iida, _ he thought.  _ You’re relying on your speed to blitz the opponent. Bakugou will see through that in an instant - you’ve done it twice in a row now. _

Mamizou continued to press him. “Don’t worry about the loss, Izuku. I’m proud of how well you did, considering the circumstances. Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting anyone like that girl to show up here. Wonder if she wouldn’t be happier as a monk…”

“She felt just like that Demon at USJ,” Izuku said at last. “Most things feel like they’re hitting through a layer of padding, way weaker than they should be - but her attacks didn’t have that.”

“That’d be her faith,” Mamizou said. “I imagine you also felt a burning pain when she hit you. Remember the story of the Oomukade of Mount Mikami?”

“Fujiwara no Hidesato fired two arrows that splintered against its shell, before the third arrow, when…” Izuku muttered in realization.

“...he prayed to Hachiman, who governs archery,” Mamizou finished, “and his faith and devotion let that final shot strike true. That Ibara girl would’ve made a fine student for a youkai hunter, back in the day. Not a hunter of her own, oh no - she’d be dead within a month without proper training - but she shows potential. Not the sort of person I wanted you to fight this soon. Not the sort of person you  _ should’ve _ fought this soon.”

It was clear what she meant by that. “The matchups.”

She nodded. “Yukari’s meddling, no doubt about that. I don’t know what game she’s playing, but there’s a storm coming, one way or another. I wish I was strong enough to act freely in this world.”

Kirishima burst into the room. “Midoriya, dude! I’m fighting Shiozaki next round, do you have any tips? Oh, sorry, Uraraka, didn’t realize you were here too - I thought you were calling your folks?”

Mamizou-as-Uraraka smiled. “I just wanted to check on Izuku and make sure he was fine after that match. You’re right that I should really call my folks - I’ll be going now.”

The red-haired boy watched the disguised Tanuki leave, none the wiser. “Huh, didn’t realize Uraraka needed glasses. She should wear them instead of her contacts more of the time - she looked pretty cute in them. Anyway, like I said, I’m fighting against Shiozaki next round and wanted to know if you had any advice.”

* * *

“This next match is a battle of steel and explosions that wouldn’t look out of place in an old war movie! We have Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu vs Bakugou Katsuki!”

“I’ve been looking forward to this since I saw the bracket,” said Tetsutetsu. “You’ve rubbed me wrong from the start. Now I can beat you down myself!”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU DAMN EXTRA!?”

Bakugou let explosions rip from both palms, launching himself at his opponent. The speed of his attack caught Tetsutetsu off guard, the boy only barely managing to metallize before Bakugou struck with a heavy left hook. He staggered back - even metallic, the sheer momentum behind the punch stung.

Recovering, he retaliated with a jab from his right hand, which the blond deftly avoided, retaliating with a blast to Tetsutetsu’s ribs. No doubt about it - Steel wasn’t enough to let him ignore the hits. He gritted his teeth and pressed on, hoping he could get a decisive hit in before Bakugou wore him down.

  
  
  


He didn’t.

* * *

“As our tournament reaches the semifinals, we have a battle of two individuals who’ve proved to be extremely well-rounded combatants! Shiozaki Ibara’s had plenty of opportunity to show how her vines work both on the offense and defense, while Kirishima Eijirou’s powerful strikes and extreme durability have definitely left an impact after his match last round!”

Shiozaki gave a simple nod to Kirishima as she entered the ring, her hands clasped as they so often were. Kirishima returned it, though his mind was elsewhere.

_ “My mistake when fighting Shiozaki was that I let her keep me at range for too long. Her quirk is extremely well-suited to longer range combat - she can maintain pressure on the opponent without needing to compromise her own position, and the sheer quantity makes it hard to find an opening once the assault starts. Tokoyami fell victim to this as well. However, the fact that her first action is always to send her vines at her opponent as a delaying tactic shows that she needs one thing…” _

_ Sorry, Shiozaki, _ he thought to himself.  _ This is gonna be pretty unmanly of me. _

“Start!”

Immediately infusing his arm with One For All, Kirishima mimicked one of All Might’s Smashes, launching a gale-force wind across the arena and sending Shiozaki flying out of the ring.

_ “...time to get her vines set up.” _

* * *

“And in contrast to our generalists last round, we have two specialized combat machines! Iida Tenya’s used his raw speed to blitz every opponent he’s had so far - will this tactic keep working for him against Bakugou Katsuki’s explosive offense?”

Iida kicked his engines into gear the moment the match started, but was still a bit too slow - Bakugou had already let off a huge explosion, creating a smokescreen like he had during his fight with Uraraka. It was a good move, concealing his position and obscuring vision so Iida couldn't move too hastily.

The crowd disagreed about that, a groan rippling through them as the realized they were about to spend a round staring at smoke.

Iida looked around for any sign of Bakugou in the thick smoke - he rushed in as fast as he could, the blond couldn’t have gone far - when he realized what he was overlooking. Quickly using a boost from his engine, he flipped his leg up in a bicycle kick, striking Bakugou as he tried to drop on him and launching him away.

To his chagrin, he noticed that Bakugou had managed to get an arm up in time to block the kick. Now the blond was both conscious and hidden - not a good combination. Recipro Burst would be useless due to uncontrollability and the risk of causing himself to leave the ring.

As a boom rang out from the smoke, Iida prepared himself to receive Bakugou’s attack, catching the blond off-guard yet again as he launched a counter at the moment the explosive quirk-user emerged from the smoke. Taking the hit in the shoulder, Bakugou grabbed Iida by the arm and fired an explosion at close range, where Iida had no way to dodge. He was sent flying back - it was a wonder he didn’t ring out, he  _ had _ to be close to the edge after that. A dangerous place to be, but not without its benefits - a good reversal could get him an easy ring-out victory.

Another explosion heralded Bakugou’s next attack. Iida focused intently on the smoke, readying his hands to grab and throw, to toss his opponent out of the ring.

Bakugou was spinning like an artillery shell - his form was completely off, there was no way Iida could correct his positioning in time.

The blond slammed into him with an exploding palm, launching him out of the arena.

* * *

Iida’s phone buzzed just as Recovery Girl shooed him out of the infirmary. It was his mother - she must’ve seen his loss.

“Hello, mother. I’m sorry that I disappointed you.”

“What? No, that’s not...”

Her voice sounded raw - had she been crying?

“Tenya, please stay calm. It’s about Tensei.” She paused for a moment to take a shuddering breath. “He didn’t return from a patrol on time, so the other members of his team went out looking for him.”

Iida could’ve sworn his heart stopped.

“The Hero Killer ambushed him. He’s in critical condition.”

* * *

“At long last, we come to our final matchup! Our combatants should need no introduction at this point, so give it up for Kirishima Eijirou and Bakugou Katsuki!”

The crowd erupted with cheers and applause, as well as a few faint yells of “No smoke this time, please!”

“May, the best man win. No hard feelings, yeah?”

Bakugou just growled in response.

Though he was calm on the outside, on the inside, Kirishima was desperately trying to psych himself up. Bakugou had a decisive advantage in maneuverability and sustained offense - he could surpass Explosion’s raw power with One For All, but he had a hard limit on the number he could fire off - four shots, or only two if he didn't want to render his arms useless. It was going to be an entirely different type of battle of attrition than against Todoroki.

Midnight signaled the start of the match, and Bakugou stalked forward, bold yet wary, ready to use an explosion to dodge at a moment’s notice if Kirishima tried pulling the same ring-out trick that he used against Shiozaki. Kirishima knew that he had to pin him down somehow - Tetsutetsu’s quirk was too close to Hardening for comfort, and Bakugou had already shown he could overcome it.

When Bakugou finally reached him, he threw a few experimental punches, mentally grimacing as the blond dodged each one and gritting his teeth as he responded with a blast to the ribs.

“Hey, Shitty Hair.” Bakugou hissed. “Don’t hold back.”

There was a brief moment after each explosion where Bakugou was stationary - he needed larger explosions to go against Hardening, and had to brace himself not to go flying from recoil. It was during this delay that Kirishima seized his chance, recovering from the first hit faster than Bakugou anticipated and grabbing the blond firmly by the wrist as he readied for another blast.

“Wouldn't dream of it.”

Bakugou’s eyes widened as Kirishima threw his punch, his free hand sparking with a massive explosion to launch himself into the air, dragging Kirishima’s arm with him and flipping the red-head. The Smash flew wide, leaving the Hardening on his right arm in ruins with nothing to show for it.

_ One down, _ they both thought.

Bakugou wasted no time at all launching another attack from their prone position on the ground, slamming an explosive palm onto the arena floor and blasting them both with the shockwave. Kirishima, his arm damaged, weathered the blast worse and ended up losing his grip on his opponent, who rolled quickly to his feet and launched another attack.

Kirishima, thinking quickly, used his remaining good arm to Smash the floor from his prone position, breaking up the arena's smooth surface and ruining Bakugou's footing to buy him time to get to his feet.

_ Two down. _

By smashing the arena and forcing Bakugou to interrupt his finisher, Kirishima had only managed to turn a certain defeat into a very uphill battle. The arena, now in pieces, was far easier for Bakugou to navigate using his explosion-based flight than Kirishima, who was landbound. Unless UA was going to pause the fight to replace the arena.

As if reading his mind, Midnight announced to the whole stadium, “We have precedent for this - the battle is still on, but touching the floor instead of one of the arena chunks counts as a ring-out regardless of if that floor was in the original bounds of the arena or not!”

_ Well, there goes that plan. _

Bakugou immediately resumed his offense, blasting a nearby chunk of arena into rubble and showering Kirishima with fragments, forcing the redhead to cover his face while guarding. The moment Kirishima dropped his guard again, Bakugou had vanished. A second blast from above gave away his plan, and Kirishima whipped around to counter the blond’s dive, only to realize almost a moment too late that Bakugou was aiming not for him, but for his foothold. With no other choice, he let loose a third One For All-enhanced punch, forcing Bakugou to evade at the cost of his left arm.

_ Only one left, now. _

Before long, Bakugou’s aim became clear: rather than just using debris to harass Kirishima, he was systematically destroying every foothold within the redhead’s jumping distance. Of course, this also meant he was destroying his  _ own _ footholds. Just as Bakugou was about to land on a larger chunk of rubble, Kirishima sacrificed his right arm to launch it clear across the arena. To his despair, the explosion-user’s reflexes remained as quick as ever - that or he had anticipated the move - and he immediately launched himself back into the air.

With both of Kirishima’s arms broken, Bakugou moved in for the finishing blow. At the moment of impact, Kirishima launched one final One For All-enhanced punch with his shattered right arm.

For once, Bakugou wasn’t expecting it, nor was he able to react.

Both boys went flying, launched by the strength of their opponent’s final attack. It was sheer dumb luck that decided the winner, as Bakugou landed on a slanted piece of rubble that had come to a rest at the arena wall.

* * *

Shigaraki clapped loudly at the television screen as the awards ceremony commenced. “Spectacular, simply spectacular!”

Elis rolled her eyes as she ground a small rock taken from Stonehenge in a pestle. “Why are you bothering to applaud them? You’re a Villain, they’re Heroes. You’re their enemy.”

She picked up the pestle and looked at the powder carefully, shook her head, and continued grinding.

“Weren't you paying any attention to the matches? The boy who won - vicious, relentless offense, underhanded tricks like smokescreens, kicking his opponent while they’re down and going for their injuries… don’t you think he’s much better suited to be a Villain?”

The bat-winged woman shrugged. “No, not particularly. Why do you even need more Villains? Aren’t your oh-so-special ‘Nomu’ things good enough for you?”

“I wouldn't expect you to understand, considering you can just conjure up any allies you need.”

“Not a Summoner.”

“Kurogiri - we’ve waited too long since our last Raid. Set up a GLFM, and also one direct party invite. We need a DPS rogue…”

The League’s misty bartender suppressed a groan at Shigaraki’s gaming terminology, but nevertheless set about making the necessary arrangements.

* * *

Mamizou and Sumireko said their goodbyes and left for what they claimed was the airport but Izuku suspected was whatever method Mamizou had used to leave Gensokyo. Coupled with his mom retiring early for the night (citing the excitement of the festival), this left Izuku alone with his computer, all ready to do one of his favorite yearly activities: taking notes on the UA Sports Festival. He hadn't been able to watch the other years' events, after all.

He pulled up UA's webpage for the event and turned to a fresh page of his special festival notebook - the same one he had taken notes on during the tournament.

His blood ran cold.

Someone had already written on the next page.

Two short lines of text.

_ I know what you are, Youkai. _   
_ Dagoba Beach. Midnight. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prayers being useful against Youkai is a recurring thing in Japanese myth, and was briefly touched on by Mamizou back in Chapter 5. As the only member of the Hero Academia cast that wears her religion on her sleeve, taking numerous visual cues from christian elements, if I had to pick any character to take on a youkai it'd be Shiozaki. Not any of the stronger youkai - even mid-tiers of myth like the Yuki-Onna or Tengu would wipe the floor with her, to say nothing of the real monsters of or the ludicrously powerful top-tiers of Touhou - but she could definitely take on, like, a Rokurokubi or something by the time of the Sports Festival. Without prayer giving her an advantage, though, Izuku would've been able to win.
> 
> Unfortunately, I feel like Kirishima's the sort who would try to force Todoroki to use his fire in combat, rather than convince him as Izuku did in canon. On top of that, since Reiko was the one with the million-point headband and got freaked out by something during the cavalry battle, Todoroki didn't panic-use his fire like he did when Izuku rushed him.
> 
> Iida why's your most optimal strategy gotta be grabbing the opponent and going for a quick ring-out.
> 
> Tetsutetsu vs Bakugou is basically the same as Kirishima vs Bakugou in canon, and was tricky to write because it was so vanilla "Bakugou blasts the hard guy repeatedly"
> 
> Shiozaki spreads vines everywhere when she fights, and got beaten in canon by Iida's ring-out, so I figure she needs setup time. If she had time to get her vines ready, she'd have dug in and been harder to remove, like the pokemon move Ingrain.
> 
> Iida why's your most optimal strategy gotta be grabbing the opponent and going for a quick ring-out. Bakugou's noted to be extremely gifted at combat, and would see through this quick.
> 
> Writing Kirishima vs Bakugou was fun, though figuring out how to mix things up while Bakugou kept baiting out Kirishima's Smashes was tricky. I'm going with the interpretation that Kirishima's Hardening can tank the first Smash he uses with each arm, so he didn't have the same pressure to realize he could use his fingers that Izuku had in canon.


	14. Two Worlds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A confrontation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3500 hits! Unlike last time I commented on total hits, this time I think the chapter is noteworthy. Obviously, your own opinions may vary.
> 
> A track from one of the Manga music CDs, specifically the one that came with the third volume of Strange and Bright Nature Deity. As for why I chose it, well, that's related to the interactions in the chapter.

Dagoba Beach was neither the cleanest nor the most picturesque place by any stretch of the imagination. At some point, some anonymous individual had left some large piece of garbage there - an old dresser, a refrigerator, a washing machine, who knows, really - and before long others had begun dumping their own trash there too. The beach became an illegal junkyard within the year, and had remained a dumping ground ever since, the authorities generally having better things to do with their time than stake the beach out looking for litterers.

It made for an eerie sight in the light of the half moon - silver illuminating the pathways people used to navigate the mess while the towering piles cast long, menacing shadows. The perfect place to hide for an ambush. 

Izuku advanced cautiously, carefully watching the darkness for any signs of movement, a task made significantly easier by the enhanced senses of his youkai heritage. The only sound to be heard was the distant lapping of waves, running up on the beach and crashing against junk that was too close to the water’s edge.

The creaking groan of metal heralded a refrigerator toppling towards Izuku from the summit of a nearby heap. He leapt forward to avoid it and ran smack into a shimmering, pale blue wall of energy that materialized from nowhere.

Looking down, a ring of runes glowed with an eerie light, producing the barrier. He reached down to touch them, only to retract his hand in pain as it shocked him in response.

“They’re warding glyphs,” called a calm, female voice. “More than strong enough to contain something like you. I’ve spent the past three years practicing them daily.”

Yanagi Reiko limped out of the shadows, dressed in her full hero gear - a knee-high white kimono with a furred collar and a black mask covering her nose and mouth. Her injury was clear to see in the moonlight, a mess of scar tissue covering her entire lower leg. Sand, gripped in her telekinetic quirk, circled her right arm, carefully arranged into more runes.

“Y- Yanagi? You’re the one who left that message in my notebook? What do you mean ‘something’ like me?”

“We both know what I mean, Midoriya. Those runes wouldn’t work on a human.” She sighed. “Truthfully, I was hoping that I’d be wrong about this. That you were just possessed or something, and Shiozaki knocked it out of you, and I’d just be standing here trying to make an excuse for why I called you to a beachside junkyard in the middle of the night.”

“But I’m not wrong, and you’re a Youkai. I don’t know how you escaped Gensokyo, or how that amulet can sustain you out here, but you’re putting this world at risk just by being here.”

There was something almost pleading deep in her eyes. “I can send you _ back _, but it has to be willingly.”

“I… I want to stay here. I want to be a Hero.”

“You and I both know that’s impossible,” She said, staring into Izuku’s eyes.

Izuku didn’t falter.

Her expression hardened. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

A glow from the runes circling her arm was the only warning he got before a barrage of projectiles issued forth, blanketing the area. If he hadn't been ready to move, he'd have been hit directly. Instead, he avoided the attack, jumping into the air within the cylindrical confines of the barrier while the attack eradicated the warding glyphs and freed him. With a wave of her hand, she rearranged the runes in mid-air, fanning them out in front of her as they twisted into new shapes. He scampered into a side passageway between two piles of discarded microwaves.

She had clearly prepared her battlefield well - more of her runes, carved into pavement and wood alike, lined the beach's entire boundary, ringing the whole thing in one giant barrier. Escape, it seemed, was not an option.

Faintly, Izuku considered folklore regarding binding circles - they needed a full circle to work. Reiko, he assumed, must have nearly completed the circle before finishing it once he stepped onto the beach.

A beam of pale blue light lanced through a massive pile of trash, narrowly missing Izuku and filling the air with the aroma of burning plastic as the destabilized mound collapsed on itself. Reiko stared across the debris at him.

“Please, just yield!” she begged. “I can still send you back, it doesn’t have to end like this!”

He answered by running back towards her.

Sand flew up from all around him, forming rings of glyphs in the air even as their absence left runes carved into the beach. Magical bolts began to rain from the sky, launched by the array Reiko had created.

As he ran for cover, Izuku stepped on one of the runes left in the sand, which crackled with energy for a brief moment as its delicate pattern was broken, then exploded with uncontrolled energy before he could fully get out of range. He winced with pain as the blast licked at his leg, but kept running, snatching what appeared to be the handle of a coffee mug from a junk pile as he continued to dodge the rain of fire.

Turning it into a hand fan, Izuku swept it towards Reiko with as much strength as he could muster, producing a fairly impressive breeze and destroying several of her landmine runes with the sheer air pressure. They detonated in a chain reaction, triggering other runes that were too close and working their way into the junkyard’s close quarters.

He sensed a jolt of surprise, and the runic circles in the air faltered and crumbled, falling from the sky as lifeless sand. In fear for his classmate’s life, he ran into the devastated dumping ground, trying to avoid putting too much weight on his wounded leg.

He made it ten feet before Reiko’s quirk excavated a new set of runes around him, a set of four forming the corners of a square that shot out ghostly ropes to tether his leg to the ground. He clung tight to the fan as he felt her pull at it as well, stopping him from simply blowing away the runes again. Debris lifted from the nearby piles and flew straight for him from all sides. With his leg snared, had no way to evade.

Object after object slammed into him, blocking out any trace of moonlight and burying him under cast-off garbage.

* * *

Reiko took a moment to catch her breath and regain her focus after burying Izuku. Rune Magic was ideal for her - quick to learn and easy to use at the cost of needing to prepare every rune, which Poltergeist allowed her to shortcut. However, the headache brought on by extended and vigorous use of her Quirk threatened the precision of her craft. And to exterminate a Youkai, she needed every rune of her finisher to be perfect.

After a deep breath, she began to sculpt the spell runes. Sand - as much as her quirk allowed - flowed into the air in streams at her command, partitioning into forty-four clusters. She focused on one symbol at a time, meticulously guiding its creation before moving to the next. It took a single, agonizingly long, second to craft each one. Any other spell would take a fraction of that time, but this was her strongest, her most dangerous.

At long last, it was finished, a tremendous circle of runes in the sky. She took a moment to visually confirm the pile was still intact - the last thing she needed was for him to escape after all her effort. Satisfied, she intoned her spell’s name.

“Afterlife Sign:”

The runes crackled to life, illuminated in blazing glory. She took a moment to steel herself for what she was about to do.

“Eternal Oblivion”

Pure, brilliant energy surged forth from the magic circle, bringing day to the beach as it annihilated all within its zone of effect. After four seconds, the beach was plunged into darkness yet again, and she blinked away the shadows, cursing the limitations of the human body.

_ I should look into becoming a Shikaisen, like Master. _

Once her sight returned, she walked to the edge of the beach’s new crater, just to be sure. Nothing but sand remained. With a heavy heart, she turned away to return home.

Izuku landed a solid hit to her back, making her stumble despite the defensive runes she had sewn into her costume’s lining.

_How?_ _How did he survive?_

She whirled around - wincing as her leg made its displeasure at her haste known - and threw her quirk into use, crafting three circular barriers around herself. Barriers one and three failed, her haste and exhaustion compromising their construction. Barrier two held firm against his next attack before immediately shattering from a second hit, which carried through into her stomach and launched her a few feet down the beach. She struggled to keep her dinner down.

She reminded herself not to fear - Youkai fed on fear, gained power from human weakness. She could still win this. She _ had _ to win this, even if she didn’t want to. It was for the sake of the world.

As Izuku approached, she poured magic into the runes sewn into her sleeves and drew upon the full might of her quirk once more.

* * *

Unbidden, memories of a sunny morning during his training came to Izuku's mind.

_ “Miss Kasodani?” he asked. _

_ The teal-haired youkai didn’t acknowledge him, continuing to sweep leaves from the courtyard while idly humming sutras. _

_ “Miss Kasodani?” He repeated, a little louder. Her strange, doglike ears twitched. _

_ Nue padded up alongside him, her serpent tail hissing at him as she approached. “You’ll never get through to her like that,” the chimera remarked in an amused tone. “Yamabiko embody echoes, you need to be louder. Watch.” _

_ The creature cupped two paws around its mouth, his mind providing his interpretation of the beast with an extra two forelimbs to explain why the quadruped wasn’t toppling over. _

_ “GOOD MORNING, KYOUKO!!!” _

_ Kyouko's response was immediate - clutching the broom tightly, she screamed back in an equally loud tone, “GOOD MORNING!!!” Before blinking and apparently noticing Izuku and Nue. “Oh, hey guys, what’s up?” _

_ Nue smirked and slunk off. Izuku stepped forward. “Um, I was trying to figure out how to make my Ability work faster - for my training, you see. I was wondering how you can reflect sound as quickly as you do? Your technique might be something I can use, too.” _

_ She scratched her head, leaning on her broomstick. “I just slap up a barrier ahead of time. My Ability creates intangible fields that bounce sounds off them, I can set them up in advance.” _

_ “Oh.” _

_ He was visibly disappointed with the unusable answer. _

_ Kyouko shrugged. “Hey, if you think it might help, Mysty and I are putting on a concert tonight, on the road between the village and the Hakurei shrine. You could come and watch the mosh pit, we get all sorts of youkai showing up and throwing their Abilities around, you might see something useful! Last night Miss Suika showed up and punched a fairy so hard I’m pretty sure she made it to Muenzuka!” _

Though he hadn’t realized it at the time, Kyouko had actually given him excellent - though difficult to use - advice. 

Just moments ago, he had been trapped by Reiko’s sorcery and buried under junk, desperately trying to be free. Then, he was out, fading echoes of power reverberating through his very being.

Now, without even truly understanding what he had done, he was trying to wrangle that feeling once more, to reproduce it, suffusing his skin with his Ability as a defensive layer. It took immense concentration to maintain.

Waves of junk slammed into him and poured off as water while he advanced towards Reiko. He chose to weave around her other projectiles, though - he doubted ‘magic’ was on the list of things he could negate with his transformation powers. As he drew nearer, her desperation showed through, the magical barrage increasing in intensity at the cost of its accuracy.

Once he was at the closest range he was still comfortable dodging her attacks, he waited for an opening, then dashed in and engaged her in hand-to-hand combat.

Just as before, she threw up a barrier that protected her for a paltry two hits before failing, but this time she was expecting the failure and swayed aside as her defense collapsed.

For a brief moment, the two of them were a flurry of motion - the half-youkai making quick, short, efficient motions while the human narrowly dodged each one, looking more like a flag in a windstorm than a flesh-and-bone being as she whipped back and forth with incredible speed.

She couldn’t dodge forever, though, and before long she slipped up - he kneed her in the stomach before hitting her in the jaw with a palm strike. Dazed, she staggered back, her mask falling from her face. Before he could close the gap again, she whipped her arms up, using her Quirk to assemble three rings of runes - one in front of her, and one to each side.

“Goodbye, Midoriya,” she whispered, just loudly enough for him to hear.

As she moved to unleash her spell, the sand suddenly collapsed, falling limply at her feet as her eyes widened in surprise at her Quirk failing her. She whirled around.

“Aizawa, you’re making a mista-” was all she got out before a familiar capture weapon restrained her.

“Yanagi. Midoriya.” Droned Aizawa’s perpetually tired voice. “Care to explain why you appear to be having a deathmatch in an illegal dumping ground?”

* * *

If you were to ask him, Aizawa Shouta would be extremely emphatic that he was in no way paid enough to deal with this. Late night patrols? Sure, he did that by choice and the heroics salary was good pay in return. Teaching courses every weekday? Also fair - he took the position willingly and Nezu paid well. He also genuinely cared about the upcoming heroes he mentored, though he’d never admit that out loud. 

But two of his students fighting to the death in an illegal junkyard, throwing around Quirks they had never demonstrated in any heroics lessons? That was absolutely not what he signed up for. He found himself longing for the prior week - a purse snatcher here, a botched burglary there, a case of someone trying to buy Trigger from a dealer who was in actuality attempting to offload counterfeit chocolate syrup - normal crimes.

The worst part was the students involved. Yanagi was always fairly quiet in courses, but studious and diligent. She hadn’t posed a single problem during any of his courses. And Midoriya, well, loathe though he was to admit it, he actually _ liked _ Midoriya. The kid was bright, quick to pick up on things, and hadn’t yet overexerted himself and needed medical attention, which immediately put him above at least half of the class.

Seriously, he’d have put money on Bakugou if he had been told to guess which of his students would be trying to kill someone on the beach at midnight.

However, life seemed to want to watch him suffer, and so he now sat in Principal Nezu’s office at 1AM, about to take part in an interrogation with the aid of a panel of whoever they could grab on short notice: All Might (who looked like he had just tumbled out of bed and slapped on the first formal outfit he could find), Detective Tsukauchi (who smelled strongly of coffee and looked like he hadn’t gone to sleep yet), and Nezu himself (who looked immaculate and perfectly awake).

The principal gave the detective a nod. “Thank you for your assistance with this on such short notice, Detective.”

“Not a problem,” Tsukauchi responded, casually ignoring his quirk as it informed him that he had, in fact, just lied. “I’m happy to be of help.”

“To bring everyone up to speed,” Aizawa started, “During my nightly patrol, I noticed a massive disturbance at Dagoba Beach and went to investigate the possible Villain activity. I instead found Midoriya and Yanagi engaged in what appeared to be a fight to the death, using their quirks to levels they haven’t displayed in class before, and further, displaying capabilities far beyond their registered quirks.”

All Might and Tsukauchi were immediately at full attention. “Like what, exactly?” the detective asked.

“Yanagi was creating defensive barriers and wide-area energy blasts, while Midoriya displayed the ability to teleport.”

“He can _ teleport _ ?” “I can _ teleport _?” Both Izuku and Reiko asked, simultaneously.

Aizawa gave Izuku a strange look. “You appeared directly behind Yanagi and struck her while she was still unaware you had done so.”

Nezu added, “Additionally, both Midoriya and Yanagi were flagged for observation during the first month of courses, on account of unexplained disappearances in their histories. Midoriya was missing for slightly over a day before returning with his late-blooming Quirk, while Yanagi was the individual involved in the Aichi Prefecture Disappearance Case from five years ago. She returned two years later, refused to testify where she had been outside of her insistence that it was not a kidnapping, and had a substantially stronger Quirk than when she initially disappeared.”

“Depending on the exact timeframes involved, Yanagi could have contacted All For One before my battle with him, but Midoriya...” All Might shook his head sadly. “To think that my nemesis is still alive, and actively recruiting spies, to boot…”

“That still leaves the question of _ why _ they were fighting each other, and in a public area, no less,” Tsukauchi pointed out.

“Um, All Might?” Izuku asked, “Who’s All For One? Was he the Villain who gave you your injury?”

“All Might’s injured?” Asked Reiko, keeping her voice carefully level and quickly smothering the small amount of surprise Izuku sensed from her.

“Don’t play coy with me, Midoriya. Based on what Aizawa is saying, you have to have received your quirks from All For One.”

“I only have one quirk!”

“That’s a lie,” interrupted Tsukauchi. “My quirk is Lie Detector, it lets me know when people are lying. You don’t have just one quirk, and you’re obviously not quirkless, so you have multiple.”

“I only have one quirk,” Reiko said, prompting a bewildered look from the detective as she apparently told a barefaced lie in defiance of his quirk.

“...True,” Tsukauchi begrudgingly admitted, after a moment.

“So this All For One figure can give quirks to people…” Izuku was mumbling to himself. “Quirks don’t just materialize from nowhere, so he has to be able to take them, too. All Might referred to him as his nemesis, meaning he’s a massive threat, probably able to stand up to All Might with proper use of synergistic quirks…”

All Might started looking paler and paler as Izuku continued to mumble, eventually pleading with him, “Young Midoriya, please, this information cannot be revealed to the public, just like my injury.”

Tsukauchi fixed a stare on Reiko. “Needless to say, that goes for you too, Miss Yanagi.”

“You need not be concerned.”

Clasping his paws together, Nezu said, “Midoriya’s comments reveal an important detail, however. He was unaware that Quirks could be transferred, or, indeed, that one can have multiple quirks. And since his statement that he has one quirk is false, the truth, however outlandish it may seem, is that he is, in fact, Quirkless.”

There was an awkward silence, during which Reiko made eye contact with Izuku and mouthed something to him. Unfortunately, Izuku didn’t know how to read lips.

“That’s completely irrational,” Aizawa objected. “It’s also possible that Midoriya has a single quirk with multiple uses that he views as multiple, like how some people view inherited mutations as a secondary quirk.”

“Inherited mutations are not viewed as quirks as far as the quirk registry is concerned, except in cases where the owner has no other quirk, however. And while it is certainly possible that the average layperson could view one as a second quirk, Midoriya is by all accounts fascinated with the science, and would use the accepted view that they aren’t quirks of their own.” Nezu pointed out. “Regardless, this particular debate is a moot point - we have a Lie Detector in the room.”

He turned expectantly to Izuku.

No getting around it at this point - they expected an answer, and he had no way to get around Tsukauchi’s Quirk that wouldn’t be obvious. He took a deep breath before answering truthfully, “I’m quirkless.”

The gleam of curiosity in his eye, Nezu went on the attack. “So how are you mimicking a Quirk? A symbiotic Quirk user, perhaps? A drug, like Trigger, designed to emulate a Quirk for brief periods? Advanced Nanom-”

Reiko interrupted the rodent-like animal before he could press any further. “Why does it matter? We’ve established that we have no connection to villain activity. Further, Midoriya is quirkless, and thus cannot violate any laws against quirk usage. This doesn’t concern you anymore.”

“Any matter that endangers my students concerns me,” Aizawa replied.

“She’s trying to run interference,” Tsukauchi realized. “Whatever the answer is, they both know it.”

“That only works when neither party being investigated has a reason to tell the truth. Or,” Nezu added, a cruel gleam in his eye, “A weakness to exploit. Midoriya, if you refuse to cooperate with this investigation, I will be left with no choice but to expel you from UA.”

Izuku yielded nearly immediately. “I’m quirkless because I’m not human!”

As the adults waited for Tsukauchi’s quirk to go off, he elaborated, “I’m half-youkai. Part Tanuki, to be precise. I don’t have a Quirk, I have what’s called an Ability.”

“Half Tanuki… You’re _ Futatsuiwa _’s kid?” Reiko realized with shock.

Tsukauchi slammed his head onto the table as his quirk failed to indicate a lie in Izuku’s statement. “I’ve been trying to arrest a mythical creature,” he moaned. “Nearly eight months of planning a sting and trying to track Midoriya Hisashi, and he’s a _ tanuki _.”

“Actually,” Nezu pointed out, “Futatsuiwa Daimyoujin is the name of a deity enshrined in Aikawa. So by another interpretation, you were trying to arrest a god.”

“I’m calling in sick tomorrow,” the detective declared. “Or today at this point. I need a drink, _ badly _, and I need to figure out how to bury this investigation without having to admit I was chasing a literal fairytale.”

As the detective began to sob, Nezu turned back to Izuku. “So what meaningfully distinguishes these ‘Abilities’ from Quirks? If they were functionally identical, you’d be calling your power a Quirk.”

“I don’t think Erasure works on them?”

“They tend to be more mystical in nature and don’t have an equivalent to Quirk Fatigue,” Reiko added. “I’ve got the Ability to Use Magic.”

“So then,” Nezu concluded, “I imagine that Miss Yanagi has some sort of grudge against Youkai, and attacked Midoriya for that reason.”

“I have no particular ill will towards Youkai, Principal Nezu,” Reiko stated. “You don’t understand what’s at stake here.”

“And you, Miss Yanagi, are dodging the question again. Why did you attack Midoriya?”

Her answer was simple: “To protect our world.”

“Explain,” Nezu pressed.

Reiko sighed - there was no getting out of it at this point, as much as she wanted to keep the truth of the matter secret. “As Principal Nezu has already stated, I was the individual at the center of the Aichi Prefecture Disappearance Case five years ago.”

“A young girl - who went nameless in the papers on account of privacy laws - was separated from her parents before disappearing off of a busy street in broad daylight without any witnesses to the event,” UA’s Principal helpfully supplied.

Izuku's memory had been jogged as well.

_ A young girl with short gray hair, separated from her parents, watching the crowd rush by with terror in her eyes. _

_ Sumireko stopped him before he could get closer. “This area of the Dream World's in use now. Looks like a nightmare of some kind, doesn't matter.” _

“I saw you,” he breathed, “in your dream - you were alone, afraid, and wanted to be somewhere safe. You saw a forest in an alleyway.”

“You’ve been watching my nightmares?” Reiko asked, sounding slightly hurt. She recovered after a moment. “Trying to get away from the crowds, I did something very stupid, and when I turned around the city was gone and I was alone in a massive, ancient forest, trapped in a world inhabited by the creatures of our myths: Gensokyo.”

“The Land of Illusions,” Nezu mumbled.

“I survived my first day by sheer dumb luck. My leg got savaged by a wolf and I barely managed to use my Quirk to escape into the treetops in time. It’s fortunate I did, because that forest is filled with mushrooms. Most of them give off spores around noon, creating a toxic haze that’ll kill anything dumb enough to still be there when it happens. The youkai themselves are immune to it, and the animals all know to get to shelter when it’s coming, but I would’ve died. For my first month there I hid in trees, trying not to make any noise at all during the night. Once the dawn came, I would descend for a bit to forage around the forest floor. I ate a lot of mushrooms during that time. A _ lot _ of mushrooms. Learned to love them, after a while.”

“If you have any particular favorites, you could ask Lunch Rush to stock them,” Nezu suggested, in a rather transparent ploy to learn as much about the Gensokyoan ecosystem as possible. “Or perhaps that girl in 1-B.”

“The purple ones with the glowing yellow spots are good - their spores aren’t too poisonous so if you eat them in moderation you only get a tingling on your tongue, followed by numbness.”

“That… doesn’t sound like any mushroom we have out here.”

Reiko sighed. “How disappointing. After a month, my fortunes started to improve. Found a big lumbering idiot in a full suit of armor passed out on the forest floor after the daily miasma. Managed to haul him into my tree and nursed him back to health for three days, during which time I thankfully managed to go unnoticed by the local predators.”

Izuku recognized the description immediately. “Idealist.” The Paladin Hero’s unexplained disappearance had long been one of the most hotly debated subjects in the field of Heroics Conspiracy Theories.

“Turns out the fool was investigating my disappearance and got himself spirited away too. Biggest idiot I’ve ever known, and my favorite Hero to this day.” Though she had a faint smile at that last bit, her voice maintained its usual carefully-controlled emotionless tone. “We started wandering, once he was better. Now that he had found me, he felt it was his duty to return me safely home. Another stroke of luck - I manifested my Ability three months in, which was crucial to my escape, and was finally able to discover a way out after two years.”

She had rather conspicuously avoided mentioning what became of her companion, Izuku noted. Idealist had never reappeared.

“And you believe that Midoriya somehow puts us at danger from this other world?” Aizawa asked, obviously skeptical of her whole story despite Tsukauchi’s verifying presence.

“Youkai need belief to exist, it’s why they created their world in the first place. For Midoriya to continue to exist out here, he’ll need that same belief, and that opens the door for other youkai, less benevolent youkai, to come through.”

She gave Izuku an apologetic look. “I offered to return Midoriya to his world, I didn’t want to have to kill him. But as long as he’s here, he puts us in danger. It’s already started - the thing that attacked USJ was a youkai, and even though I helped All Might kill it, it won’t be the last.”

“We could fight them off,” Nezu proposed. “Japan has some of the strongest Heroes in the world, and with your information, we’ll have the advantage of knowing what’s coming.”

“Absolutely out of the question,” Reiko said with finality. “If the most dangerous ones enter our world, nobody will be able to stop them.”

“I find it hard to believe that they’re completely undefeatable. Every great youkai of myth was eventually brought low.”

“The Heroes of old never fought the Youkai of Boundaries.”

_ That _ was a title Izuku had heard before. “Yu-”

“_ DON’T SAY HER NAME! _” Reiko shrieked, emanating more fear than Izuku had ever sensed from a single being. He reeled from the overwhelming sensation.

The rest of the room silenced, she continued, voice still trembling slightly. “She’s the mastermind behind Gensokyo’s existence, and the one who controls the barrier separating it from our world. Any spiritings away - me, Idealist, and who knows how many others - they’re all her work. She _ cannot _ be allowed to enter our world.”

“Certainly our strongest Heroes could-”

“Her Ability is Manipulation of Boundaries,” Reiko said, “Any physical or conceptual boundary is her plaything.”

“She could twist reality to her whim,” Nezu whispered in realization. To his credit, he maintained an admirable poker face, though Izuku could sense fear through his facade.

“You understand what’s at stake now? We can’t risk letting Midoriya stay in our world. If he does...”

“Since he needs belief to exist, then becoming a Pro Hero - a public figure - will end up allowing the Youkai of Boundaries into our world,” Aizawa realized. “But if we prevent that by making him become an Underground Hero, we’ll just be condemning him to death.”

“Actually, from what I’ve been told, that’s not true,” Izuku replied. “If people believe in me specifically rather than just youkai in general, that belief is only usable by me.”

“So if we keep what we’ve been told today between us, the risk is minimal,” Nezu concluded. “As long as that happens, the public will just assume that Midoriya is like any other Hero - just a human with training and a quirk.”

Reiko was silent for a long while, her face kept carefully neutral as she tried to handle her concerns proving to be unfounded. Izuku suspected she was trying to avoid breaking down entirely.

The Principal took the silence as a cue to render his judgment. “In light of the circumstances, I feel neither party should face expulsion from UA. Mr. Midoriya was fighting in self-defense and had no ill intent, while Miss Yanagi was fighting out of an admittedly misguided belief that she was defending our world. On a more pragmatic note, we should keep hold of them if only for the fact that they’re the only people we have who can viably fight Youkai. That being said, Midoriya fought back rather than retreat, while Yanagi was the one who instigated the fight. You can decide their punishment at your discretion, Aizawa.”

Looking more than a bit guilty, Reiko broke her silence. “Actually, Midoriya couldn’t retreat - I set up a binding circle around the beach to trap him there. He had no choice but to fight.”

“...Very well. Midoriya, you’re free to go. Yanagi, you will be barred from attending any internships you may get offers for, will consult with Nezu on ways we can prepare for any other youkai threats that may arise, and will otherwise be subject to any requests to help around the school, within reason.”

Aizawa got up and prepared to leave the room.

“That’s more than fair, considering what I did. And Aizawa?”

The teacher paused at the door. “Yes?”

“Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My working title for this chapter before I picked out a song name for it was "Thug Finals on Dagoba Beach", and the original summary I had was pointing out that as a duel of a human and a youkai, a quirk-user and a quirkless person, it very much is a duel of two different worlds. However, using that as the summary would've been a big tip-off as to who was calling Izuku out to the beach, so I switched to the minimal one I have now.
> 
> And hoo boy, this chapter. I tweaked Reiko's motivation a few times over the course of writing this - originally she was very violently anti-youkai and attacking out of an intent to avenge her trauma in Gensokyo. This obviously posed large problems with trying to get her into a believably neutral state by the end of the chapter, and if she was still hostile there'd be no realistic reason to keep her in UA.  
I think - and hope - that instead being motivated by a fear of what Yukari can do, and trying to tell herself there's no other way throughout the fight, work better for getting her into a neutral/slight ally state by the end. Certainly Neutral->Neutral/Friendly is a more believable transition than Hostile->Neutral, I'd think. Good thing I had kept her exact Gensokyo connection and motivations vague prior to this so I didn't need to retcon stuff, lol.
> 
> Reiko's spellcards follow a theme of afterlife beliefs. The only one she's used so far, Eternal Oblivion, is an awesome-sounding name for the idea that you simply cease to exist upon death that I grabbed off Wikipedia. Functionally, it's a way worse version of Marisa's iconic Master Spark: Aimed straight into the ground to neuter the Spark's range and area, far worse offensive power, and a cripplingly bad 44-second chargeup time. The repeated fours are, of course, because "shi", a reading of the character for "four", is also a reading for "death".  
And speaking of the Spell Card rules, Reiko's technically in violation of them by going for the kill here, but Izuku doesn't have any Spell Cards of his own to respond to the duel, and Junko in Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom also goes for lethal attacks.
> 
> When I checked the Touhou timeline to double-check what Incidents Reiko would be around for, I was astounded at my lucky planning - she manages to end up in Gensokyo in the middle of a period of peace, dodging the major Incidents and only being around for minor disturbances.


	15. Bad Omen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Internships loom on the horizon, forces both heroic and villainous start mustering their strength.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reading you guys' comments was great after the Reiko reveal. I was pleased to see how many of you picked up on her suspicious behavior extending all the way back to her unnamed cameos in chapter 2. And I broke 4k hits soon after that previous chapter! Wow!
> 
> Pre-battle theme from Immaterial and Missing Power. Everyone's got their internships (except Reiko), but with Stain's attack on Ingenium still fresh on the mind, things could be looking better...

“Today we’ve got a special Hero Course,” Aizawa said in a bored tone while idly running a hand over the Lichtenberg figures covering his face. Izuku noticed he seemed slightly more uneasy with them than he had previously been. “You’ll be coming up with your Hero names.”

A cheer went up from the class.

“But before we get to that,” he continued loudly, instantly silencing everyone, “I should clarify something regarding the internships I mentioned before the Sports Festival. They’re essentially a way for Pros to express interest in your futures - they’ll make offers to those who they think will be ready to join the workforce upon graduation. However, there’s also plenty of time for their interest to wane. Their offers can be revoked for any reason, and it’s fairly common for this to happen.”

“So if we’re picked, that just means we’ll have to keep our performance up,” Hagakure observed.

“Correct.”

Aizawa tapped a button on a remote, causing the projector to display a list of names and numbers. Bakugou, Kirishima, and Todoroki topped the list.

“Now, typically there’s a bit more of a spread, but our top three this year all had powerful and flashy quirks that tend to draw the Pros’ attention.”

The class started chattering at the list of internship offers, some happy, some upset. Uraraka was excitedly shaking Iida over the 20 offers she had received, while Izuku was just satisfied to have gotten 30 despite his lackluster showing in the Sports Festival - a quick stomp and then a losing matchup where his defense was overwhelmed hadn’t left him with the greatest hopes.

“Regardless of whether you were picked for an Internship or not, you will all have the opportunity to work alongside Pros. The experience you have in dealing with villains aside, there are more aspects to Heroics work than simply fighting, and working with a professional Agency will be important to your growth going forwards. UA has a list of Heros that we work closely with and are willing to extend offers to any Heroics student regardless of performance. However, before we get to that, we have the matter of your Hero Names to address. While it’s true they’re only temporary, you’ll still want to pick something you’re happy with-”

“Or else you’ll regret it,” Midnight agreed, suddenly striding into the classroom. “The name you pick today may very well end up being what the world calls you. It’s happened to plenty of Pros in the past.”

Izuku immediately thought of an obscure Hokkaido hero known simply as ‘Help’.

“I’m no good with deciding names, so Midnight has volunteered to assess your tentative names,” Aizawa said, grabbing his sleeping bag from under the desk as he did so. “Try to pick a name that suits the image you have for yourself - your name will be the first impression most people get of you.”

* * *

After fifteen minutes of brainstorming, Midnight quite literally cracked the whip, using the distinctive (and loud) noise to alert the class that it was time to announce their names.

Yuuga was the first to present, eagerly jumping at the opportunity to be the center of attention. “The Shining Hero: ‘I cannot stop twinkling’,” He proudly proclaimed.

“It’s a bit of a mouthful at the moment,” Midnight considered, “but it should work if you remove the ‘I’ and contract ‘cannot’ to ‘can’t’.”

“Ah, excellent advice, mademoiselle!”

And with that, the floodgates were opened - nobody had to worry about the pressure of being first anymore, and Midnight had shown she was treating all names seriously.

“Alien Queen!” “The horror movie association means you’ll need to work a bit harder on public image, but if you’re fine with that, by all means go for it.”

“Froppy!” “A lovable, cute name!”

“Earphone Jack!”

“Tentacole!”

“Cellophane.”

“Tailman.”

“Sugarman,” muttered Sato, clearly slightly embarrassed and annoyed someone had used the same naming scheme as him.

“Chargebolt!”

“Invisible Girl!”

“Creati.” “What a creative name!”

“Shouto.” “Just your name? Well, if you’re fine with it…”

“Tsukuyomi.” “The god of the night, huh?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku saw Reiko raise an eyebrow at that one.

Koda, too shy to speak in front of the whole class, simply raised his board reading  _ Anima _ .

“King of Explosive Murder.” “That’s way too villainous. Try again.”

“Onikiri.” “Nice pun! Certainly fitting of the strength your quirk gives you!”

“Uravity.”

“Exorcist.” “Isn’t there already a hero by that name?” “There isn’t, I checked. There’s an ‘Exorsister’ but no ‘Exorcist.” “Huh, kinda weird they went for the portmanteau first. Well, go right ahead, then!”

As Reiko returned to her seat, that only left three of the class left. Bakugou, trying to think of a new name, and the ones that were most visibly struggling with their decisions: Iida and Izuku.

Iida was the first one to make his choice. After a long moment of silence, clearly grappling with something - Izuku suspected his brother’s injury had something to do with that - he finally stood, walked to the front of the class, and displayed his sign, reading simply ‘Tenya’.

“Simply your name, just like Todoroki, huh?”

Somewhat hesitantly, Iida nodded.

Izuku decided on his name soon after that. In retrospect, he wasn’t sure why it had taken so long.

He held up the sign to show the Hero name he had decided on -  _ Deku _ .

“Huh? Are you really okay with that, Midoriya?” Ojiro wondered aloud, seeing Bakugou’s old insult for what it was.

“Yeah. I used to hate it, but someone helped me to see it in a new light. It was surprising, but it actually made me feel sort of happy.”

He could see Uraraka’s face light up at that. He continued, “On top of that, my quirk lets me transform things. What better way to symbolize that than transforming what used to be meant as an insult to me?”

Midnight gave him a warm smile. “That's a wonderful reason for that name.”

“Lord of Explosive Murders.” “The word ‘King’ really wasn’t the issue with your previous name, Bakugou.”

* * *

While everyone was looking over their internship offers, Tokoyami took the opportunity to approach Izuku.

“Midoriya,” he began, seeming slightly nervous. “I apologize if this request seems odd, but if you have any internship offers in Hiroshima Prefecture, and especially in the area of Hatsukaichi city, would you be willing to take it?”

That  _ was _ an odd request. “I don't know of many major heroes near there - Miruko is the only one that comes to mind, but she makes a point of working alone most of the time. Why?”

“My mother’s side of the family has passed down a diary for generations, supposedly from one of my ancestors. According to the entries, she was an accomplished warrior who roamed Japan, dueling people to test her skill until an injury left her unable to fight.”

Izuku nodded hesitantly, not quite sure where this was going.

“In one of the more fanciful stories, she supposedly fought a monster on the island of Itsukushima, sealing it away in an isolated cave. Most of my family treats her stories as just bedtime stories or interesting peeks at what life was like back then, but I have to know if this one is true. I’m taking an offer from Komuso, the monk hero, in the area. After USJ, I feel like you're the best one to help me if there is something after all.”

“Youkai hunters were con artists,” Reiko said dismissively. Apparently with Aizawa banning her from internships she had decided to just wander the room eavesdropping and was now jumping in to interrupt the conversation. “Preying on people’s fear for easy money. She either didn’t do anything, or she killed some poor peasant and left him to rot there.”

The bird-headed boy looked outraged at the accusation. “But her descriptions of the confrontation!”

“She was a good writer, so what? The facts don’t match up even if we do say youkai existed. Religious power - prayer and the like - are anathema to them, they get used to defeat them in all the stories. Why would a youkai be hanging out on Itsukushima of all places? The whole island’s a shrine - they don’t let you go there if you're sick and make you leave if you’re elderly, terminally ill, or pregnant. It’s surrounded by the sea, which is traditionally the best medium for purifying yourself. The place is probably as pure as you can get.”

“She- she says it had golden eyes and wore the skin of a man! It could have been blend-”

She snatched the list of offers out of his hand, giving it a quick glance over. "You've got an offer from  _ Hawks _ , one of the most promising and popular up-and-coming Heroes, and you're passing that up for someone I've never heard of just because of a fairy tale? Grow up."

Having said her piece, she turned and floated away.

“I… I think she’s just mad about not getting any offers,” Izuku said weakly.

“It’s fine,” Tokoyami reassured him. “I’m used to people not believing in the darker aspects of this world. Though I’m somewhat surprised - Yanagi seems remarkably knowledgeable about folklore for someone who dismisses them as ‘fairy tales’. Perhaps she was once a kindred spirit?”

Hard to beat someone who  _ actually _ interacts with youkai for knowledge of them, Izuku considered. “Anyways, I’m sorry - if I had any offers in that area I’d happily help you, but most of mine are in the Musutafu or Hosu.”

The bird-headed boy nodded. “About what I expected, truly.”

As Izuku turned his attention back to his own list of offers, Tokoyami began to give his list a second look.

* * *

After class let out, Izuku grabbed Reiko for a moment. “You didn’t have to be so harsh.”

She looked at him strangely. “You should know better than I do that I was just telling the truth. He won’t find anything on Itsukushima. It’s better for him not to waste his time when he wants to become a Hero.”

“And if he does? USJ and my very existence both prove a youkai can be in the Outside World.”

“Then it’ll be too dangerous for him, and he shouldn’t be chasing after it anyways.”

* * *

The League of Villains’ bar hideout was nothing like one would picture a villain hideout - Kurogiri made sure of that. It was kept nice and clean like a proper bar should be, and well lit on top of that. The only issue was that much to his chagrin, the misty villain had not managed to convince the other members of the league to get rid of the sofa and television that had been set up in the middle of the room, and it presented an absolutely unsightly blight on what would otherwise be a very nice drinking establishment. Making matters worse, Elis was currently sitting cross-legged on that sofa, meditating and chanting in a tongue Kurogiri had never heard before.

He  _ really _ hoped this wouldn't cause an issue in negotiations.

Stain regarded the bar warily, shooting a sideways glance at the magician. “What’s with her?” He rasped.

The hero Killer was an imposing figure even if he did look like he had stepped out of a gritty 90s comic book. He had bandages wrapped around his arms - likely more for aesthetic than healing, considering his preference for ambushes - and wore a simple black sleeveless shirt and pants under a huge amount of assorted pouches and sheathes. A red bandana adorned his head, drawing one's attention towards his utter lack of a nose.

“Communing with her ‘Master’, apparently,” Shigaraki replied, scratching at his collar. The lanky villain’s tone made it clear what he thought of her claim. “She’s part of that weird death cult that's popped up lately, does it at least once a day.”

Keeping his gaze locked on her for a moment more, Stain finally looked back to the League's young leader. “You contacted me. Why?”

Shigaraki sat up a little straighter at this, clearly hoping to make a good impression. Kurogiri was slightly impressed - he hadn't thought the young villain had it in him. Maybe dealing with the Hero Killer would go smoothly after all.

“Our organization has been on the rise lately, and boasts a decent amount of support as well,” he started, gesturing to the tidy bar. “We’ve recently made our opening move against hero society an-”

“Stop,” Stain hissed, silencing the lanky villain. “I have an idea of where this is going. You’re the ones who attacked UA, and you want me to join your little team.”

“Naturally. When it comes to villainy, you’re-”

“What’s your goal in this?”

“Well, we want to kill All Might, ideally. But mainly I just want to destroy anything I don’t like. For example,” he held up a photo of Izuku, “this kid. He stopped our trump card at USJ.”

The Hero Killer grit his teeth. “You’re the type I hate the most,” he snarled, sliding his blades from their sheathes. “Just aimless bloodlust, throwing a temper tantrum against the world. Without a creed, bloodshed is worthless.”

Kurogiri flinched away slightly, shooting a glance towards the computer monitor set up in the room. “Sensei, should I stop him?”

“No, this works,” the individual on the other end of the call replied in a wheezing voice. “Simply  _ telling _ someone how to grow is useless. Growth comes through struggle, he must come to the necessary conclusions on his own, with our help if necessary, but without us simply carrying him there.”

Stain struck like a viper, lashing out with impressive speed for someone without an enhancement quirk. Striking Kurogiri in the arm first, he brought the knife up to his mouth and licked the blood from it, and flung it towards Elis in a single fluid motion as he kicked Shigaraki directly in the chest. Unprepared, the young villain toppled to the floor and Stain dove on top of him, shoving his second knife into the young man’s bicep to keep him pinned there and unsheathing a third knife, pressing it against the hapless villain’s neck.

The knife thrown at Elis slammed into a wall of water that materialized out of nowhere, killing its momentum and causing it to tumble to the floor. The magician immediately flung an arm towards the Hero Killer with a single cry in a demonic tongue.

Stain toppled forwards onto Shigaraki, unconscious.

“And why didn’t you do that earlier, Miss Elis?” Kurogiri wondered aloud. He was paralyzed - apparently the effect of the Hero Killer’s quirk.

“I forced him to commune with my Master,” she replied. “It’s not something I can do easily - I need to prepare for almost an hour before I can start to commune. So I can absolutely do that again, if you’re willing to stall for me for a full sixty minutes.”

“We’ll consider it,” Shigaraki sarcastically grumbled. “Now get him off of me, he’s heavy.”

* * *

Stain's eyes widened in surprise as the League of Villains’ bar hideout vanished around him, leaving him suddenly kneeling in some ancient stone ruin.

He mentally kicked himself. An amateur mistake - focusing on the most lethal quirk to the point of letting his guard down about the complete unknown in the group. Did the League have two warpers? He should have focused more on taking her out first, removed uncertainty from the equation. Instead, now he was in this place, probably miles from civilization.

He looked around. The chamber he was in was made of some unidentifiable dark stone, carved by some ancient craftsman's hands in a distant era. It had the trappings of a temple - large, open space to make the visitor feel smaller, more humbled, while paths carved into the floor drew the visitor’s eyes to the center of the room and pillars drew their eyes upwards, where a hole in the ceiling allowed golden light to filter in, shining a spotlight on the center of the room and illuminating the rest of the temple.

At some point there had evidently been either some great battle or a botched attempt at demolition - some unknown force had left deep gouges in the floor, and numerous indents and cracks spread from points in the floor, walls, and even the ceiling, marking where a round, heavy object had been slammed into the structure.

** _Akaguro Chizome._ **

Tense, Stain looked around for the source of the voice, booming yet gentle, that echoed in his mind. A foe with an unknown quirk was bad enough. An unknown foe in a hidden location was even worse. And there was nowhere in the ruined temple that could provide a hiding spot for him.

** _Be not afraid. I mean no harm._ **

His hand went instinctively to his blade’s handle, only to realize that it wasn’t there. When had he lost it?

** _I shall reveal myself to you._ **

In the center of the room, a crack formed in reality. As it grew, Stain realized that wasn't quite right - it had been there from the start, just hidden. Six appendages unfolded from a central point, spreading wide, each one easily six feet in length. They had a curious quality to them, appearing without texture or any sense of depth, as though they were holes in reality, pulling it away to reveal a shifting purple vortex underneath. This had been the cause of his initial confusion.

As they reached their full size, he realized from the shape of the appendages that they were wings, attached to a central figure that was at once humanoid yet obviously completely inhuman. It emanated a strange sense of dissonance, as though it was simultaneously a pitifully weak creature on the verge of death, yet so powerful it could kill him with a careless action. His breath refused to come.

** _Breathe, Akaguro Chizome. Your time has not yet arrived._ **

It sounded almost amused.

** _You have been sent here for a reason, Akaguro Chizome._ **

He finally found his voice. “And that would be?”

** _To be judged._ **

The Hero Killer sneered. “Only one man is worthy of judging me.”

The entity ignored his comment.

** _You bathe yourself in the blood of others, bringing lives to ends without hesitation. Have you no remorse?_ **

It was a question asked out of genuine curiosity, without any hint of accusation.

Stain's answer was never going to be any other. “They were false heroes, a blight on our society seeking only to glorify themselves.”

** _A good answer._ **

The winged void reached out to him and touched his forehead with its right hand.

** _Go with my blessing, Hero Killer._ **

* * *

Stain opened his eyes to an extreme close-up of the League’s bartop. Picking himself up, he saw an empty room.

“Shigaraki and Kurogiri already left. Didn't think you ‘brought enough value to the partnership’, in Kurogiri's words. Shigaraki said your ‘gearscore’ wasn’t high enough, whatever that means.”

His katana was immediately in his hand as he whirled on the speaker.

The bat-winged woman was sitting on the stool next to him, resting her head on one hand and looking completely unconcerned about the sword pressing against her neck.

“Explain.  _ Now, _ ” he demanded.

“Oh? And what could you be so worked up about, I wonder?”

He pressed slightly harder. A trickle of black blood oozed from her neck, sizzling against the blade in a distinctly inhuman fashion. “What. Did. You.  _ Do? _ ”

She grinned a wide, evil smile. “I gave you an audience.”

Stain flinched slightly at the look in her eyes - it was something he recognized well, the look of a crazed zealot.

“Your actions glorify death, Hero Killer,” she said, grabbing his katana by the blade and pushing against it. Despite his efforts, she began to force it back, away from her. The cut on her neck sealed up before his eyes even as she sliced her own hand open.

“I sent you to my Master and you came back with a blessing - you are  _ chosen _ , one of the few in this world who can say so, and-”

“Stop.”

She looked mildly offended at the interruption. Tearing his katana out of her grip, he examined it for any damage from her strange blood before sheathing it.

“I need no higher power backing me. I alone decide whether to swing or stay my blade.  _ I _ am the only judge.”

He got up and stormed out of the bar, unwilling to continue listening to her delirious claims. There were false heroes to be judged, anyways.

“I’ll be watching!” She called after him as the door swung shut. “Don’t disappoint!”

Stain grumbled to himself - it was gonna take him the better part of a day to make it back to Hosu.

* * *

Izuku didn't actually have to go far from UA for his internship - Kamui Woods had elected to set up his agency right in downtown Musutafu. It was comforting, really - he could pop back home for lunch if he really wanted.

“How much can you transform at once?” the hero asked, immediately cutting straight to his point. Izuku had expected as much - the man was known for being very serious and focused while on the clock, which almost certainly played an important role in his rapid rise.

“Depends on how much time I have to work with the material - I can transform anything I’m directly touching nearly instantly, but if I keep maintaining my focus I can spread out to around a ten meter radius.” To say nothing of the much simpler transformation of leaves which, he was increasingly starting to believe, was an aspect of his Tanuki heritage rather than strictly part of his Ability. It could be passed off as part of an overarching quirk anyways, so there wasn’t a problem there.

“The first thing we’ll work on is your speed, then. Try to see if you can aim it, as well. Transforming the ground twenty meters ahead of you is much better than transforming all the ground within ten meters of you.”

“Right, I’ll start working on that immediately, then.”

“The idea will eventually be to-”

“Transform the ground to trap enemies before resolidifying it, or creating snares around the enemy at range.”

Kamui’s eyes widened. “You figured that out immediately?”

Izuku shrugged. “I was already thinking of it as a tactic, I just hadn’t had the range or ability to properly do so before. Now that I’ve figured out how to transform things without needing to use my hands, I don’t have to sacrifice my mobility.”

“That, and your combat style focuses on restraining the target and I feel like you’re the sort who would pick an intern you can directly help develop rather than one who might cover your weak points,” he added after a moment.

“You’re very astute, Midoriya. I know he doesn’t work directly alongside me, but I feel I should apologize for Death Arms’s harsh words that day. Your quirk may have come in late, but you’re already well on the path to being a splendid hero.”

Izuku beamed at the praise.

* * *

The Battle Hero Gunhead looked over his two interns approvingly.

“Uravity, Mind Blank, you look great!”

Uraraka personally thought that Shinsou didn't quite look so good - he was clearly a fan of Aizawa, judging by his outfit, but somehow managed to look even more exhausted than 1-A's teacher. She kept that thought to herself, however.

Gunhead continued, “I extended offers to both of you for similar reasons, and I'm happy to see that you both accepted. Simply put: I believe both of you would benefit greatly from hand-to-hand training, and, considering you both accepted, I imagine you two agree.”

Uraraka nodded eagerly, Shinsou less so.

“Don't worry, you’ll still get to go on patrols,” he added, chuckling, “but you’ll be both intern and student during this time. Uraraka, I’m sure you realize that grappling will be orders of magnitude better with your quirk, and Shinsou, I hope you’ve realized you need a way to handle things if your quirk fails you. But before we start - what do you guys want for lunch? My treat.”

* * *

Komuso’s hero agency was extremely modest, as one would expect from a hero who modeled himself on a type of Buddhist monk that wore face-concealing to represent discarding their ego. It was only a few rooms, barely taking up a single floor of the building it was in and sparsely furnished, with the few pieces of furniture needed (such as a desk and filing cabinet, for storage of paperwork) being simple and unadorned.

“I would have rented less of the building, but the owner has a strict policy requiring a minimum of one floor rented for heroes,” he said, sounding somewhat embarrassed about the matter. Tokoyami imagined he bore a wry smile as he said this, but the tengai he wore betrayed no details of his face. “Anyways, I should get to business. Do you know why I extended an internship offer to you?”

Tokoyami had no answer - he actually hadn't thought of that.

“Well, if you don't have an answer for that, why  _ did _ you accept? I hardly think it’s because of my enduring popularity,” the hero joked.

“As shameful as it is to admit, I picked you because hoped to visit Itsukushima,” Tokoyami muttered, hanging his head. “I understand if you don't want me as an intern now that my deceit is exposed.”

Komuso let out a laugh at that. “Why, not a problem at all! In fact, it sounds like you’re well on the way to the lessons I was hoping to teach you anyways!”

“I am?”

“Of course! Do you know what my quirk is?”

“I did regretfully little research before selecting you.”

The monk tsked. “You should never let your worldly desires distract you from the bigger picture. But anyways, my quirk is Channeler. It allows me to commune with the recently deceased and call upon their knowledge to aid me!”

Tokoyami was in awe - a real life medium, standing right in front of him.

Komuso continued, a little more sheepishly, “...is how I explain it for the kids, but really it just hyperanalyzes the body and takes on aspects of whatever personality I subconsciously think the deceased had. I had a lot of preconceived notions when I was younger - not any large ones, but the subtle ones that slip into your day-to-day life, things like ‘that guy has tattoos, he must be a yakuza,’ or ‘that guy in a yellow raincoat must be a fisherman’.”

He sighed. “Those little mistakes caused me no end of grief. The key thing here is that my quirk doesn’t necessarily cooperate with me - it takes on a personality of its own. I worked for years to learn to work with it. So when I saw your match at the Sports Festival, when your own quirk ran out of control…”

“You thought your techniques could help me as well!” Tokoyami realized. This internship he chose on a whim could actually bear some serious fruit!

“Exactly! And don't you worry, we’ll visit Itsukushima at the end of the week. Now, the first thing I recommend is to…”

* * *

Reiko knocked hesitantly on the door to Nezu’s office.

“Come in.”

Aizawa and Detective Tsukauchi were already in the room as well. She raised an eyebrow at the group. “I didn't think you’d need this large a group to consult me.”

“Normally we wouldn’t! I was planning to ask you what sort of measures could be applied to help secure UA against future attack. However, something occurred to me as I was thinking back on our discussion the other day. Detective, if you would?”

Tsukauchi handed Reiko a folder. Opening it, there was a file detailing a student by the name of ‘Mineta Minoru’, who appeared to be extremely short, with hair that resembled large grapes. Just looking at the picture made her feel uncomfortable, somehow. As she looked through the file, Tsukauchi continued.

“Mineta was originally one of the accepted UA students, with a solid score on both the practical and academic portions of the entry exam. However, he never accepted his invitation to UA - he disappeared off the street without any witnesses, leaving a spot in the Heroics course that was filled by Shinsou Hitoshi. It was investigated by the police as a kidnapping, but…”

“You think he was spirited away,” Reiko finished, not looking up from the file.

“Exactly!” Nezu exclaimed. “You mentioned trying to send Midoriya back - I assume that whatever means you discovered for getting  _ out _ , you can also use it to get back  _ in _ .”

“I will be completely straightforward with this: his chances of survival are slim.”

“You survived,” the principal pointed out, “and for two years at that.”

“I didn’t have a ‘consistent history of sexual harassment,’ nor do I ‘lock up during emergencies’,” she replied, reading directly from the file. “Basically everyone important - and  _ powerful _ \- in Gensokyo is female, if he tried that on the wrong person they could reduce him to a mist of atoms without a second thought. His panicking habit would doom him in the wilderness, too. How'd this kid even make it through the practical?”

“There was a lot of crying and throwing his hairballs involved,” Aizawa said, clearly low on patience. “Can you find him or not?”

“I can certainly try, but-”

“Good. I'm going with you.”

“No,” she replied, shockingly forcefully.

“Miss Yanagi,” Nezu started, delicately, “considering you would normally have an internship during this time, sending Aizawa with you is an excellent substitute for that experience. Search and rescue is a common enou-”

“His Erasure doesn't work on Abilities, and he doesn’t know any youkai-fighting techniques. He’ll just be dead weight.”

She turned to Aizawa. “You want to go with me, into a world you have no experience with, where your Quirk is completely useless and you have no ability to fight the locals. What part of that is ‘rational’?”

“You’re jumping to the worst-case scenario,” the underground hero protested. “From what you’ve said, you weren’t constantly fighting off youkai during your time there, and I have experience in searching for missing individuals that you don’t have. As long as I carefully follow your lead on handling dangerous areas-”

“ _ Everywhere _ can become dangerous on short notice in Gensokyo. You’re not coming with me.”

“Idealist never made it back,” Nezu realized.

Reiko abruptly stood up. “I can start looking tonight.  _ Alone. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Onikiri is one of the several nicknames borne by the sword of Watanabe no Tsuna, one of the four retainers of Minamoto no Yorimitsu. It earned this particular nickname when Tsuna sliced an arm off of the oni Ibaraki-Douji when she ambushed him at the Rashomon gate. Ibaraki-Douji then returned the next night, in disguise, and managed to trick Tsuna into returning her arm to her, at which point she fled. Ibaraki-Douji never haunted Rashomon gate again, however.
> 
> I was never really fond of Reiko's original hero name 'Emily', and switching to 'Exorcist' is both fitting for someone with a ghost theme who can fight youkai and still references a horror movie.
> 
> Itsukushima is indeed an entire island designated as a shrine and sacred ground. Its torii is placed in a location that makes it appear to be floating on the water when at high tide, and only just on a land bridge at low tide. It's really quite picturesque - I hope to visit one day.
> 
> The Winged Void was simultaneously fun to write and tricky to find the proper words for, both in its dialogue and its description.
> 
> Komuso were a type of mendicant monk that wore a bucketlike helmet made out of straw to symbolize their lack of ego and went around playing the shakuhachi, a type of bamboo flute, as a method of meditation. Technically, Komuso the Hero shouldn't even be renting an office, considering the mendicant lifestyle. Stain hates his guts, predictably.
> 
> I really have no idea how Mineta made it through the practical considering the instant things start going wrong at USJ he panics and starts screaming about how useless his quirk is and how they're all gonna die.


	16. Spirit of Avarice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reiko's magic teacher is a bad influence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally this chapter was going to go up on Christmas, but I realized that the actual chapter for this week would end on a cliffhanger and didn't want rereads or people reading for the first time to get cliffhanger->Christmas chapter out of left field->payoff. Thus, I swapped the order I'm posting them in.

There were certain things Reiko always dreaded when visiting Gensokyo.

Foremost on that list was the ever-present possibility of encountering Yakumo Yukari. The Youkai of Boundaries was as dangerous as she was unpredictable, and to say that her previous (and, thankfully,  _ only _ ) encounter with the youkai had gone poorly would be a tremendous understatement.

The second thing was the possibility of ending up visiting the Sanzu River, or the Netherworld. It was an irrational worry, but one she had nonetheless. Taking a peek at the afterlife - she didn't know whether it would be worse if she saw Idealist there or if she  _ didn't. _

But those were manageable, unlikely, and - most importantly - avoidable. The third thing she dreaded about her visits was something she had no real way to avoid.

As Reiko was reflecting on this last one, she was approached by a blue-eyed woman with blue hair tied into two large loops behind her head and fastened with a hair stick. “Good evening, Reiko! Wonderful of you to join me on this most festive of nights.”

Seiga Kaku. An ancient, immortal Shikaisen Hermit associated with Gensokyo's Taoist faction. A proficient necromancer who doted on her pet Jiangshi like one would spoil their dog. Someone whose methods were so unscrupulous and self-serving that Heaven refused to acknowledge her, earning her the title of the “Wicked Hermit”.

And, Reiko's teacher in the field of magic.

Seiga was currently dressed in a red outfit with white fur trim, looking very much like Santa Claus, if he had also happened to be an ancient immortal Chinese woman wearing a fake beard. Her pet Jiangshi, Miyako Yoshika, trailed behind her, a large bag slung over her shoulders and a pair of felt reindeer antlers attached to her hat. Seiga must have found them at Kourindou.

“ _ Why. _ ” Reiko flatly asked.

“Whatever do you mean? It's Christmas, so of course I’m getting into the festive spirit and spreading cheer throughout the land!”

“It’s the middle of May.”

The hermit huffed. “Well, it’s Christmas  _ somewhere _ .”

“That’s not at all how these holidays work.”

“And besides,” continued Seiga, completely ignoring her, “I’m gonna be doing this all night, so you can either go home now and get nothing out of this, or help me and at least get to watch me in action. Your call.”

Reiko groaned.

* * *

Their first stop was a bar in the Human Village, a sign outside proudly proclaiming the establishment's name to be Geidontei. A smaller sign placed in front of the door also indicated that it was past closing time and the owner was sorry for that fact.

Seiga shot a quick glance up and down the street to make sure no one was coming. While a decent portion of the village closed down late at night, it wasn't unheard of for shops to cater to youkai and stay open later than usual.

Satisfied, she stepped up to the bar's door, retrieving her hairpin from its place in her hair loops as she did so. In a single, swift motion, she used it to draw a large circle, encompassing the door and part of the surrounding walls. The material within it abruptly ceased to exist, without a single sound.

Chuckling to herself, the hermit stepped through, followed by her undead servant and unenthusiastic student. After a moment, the hole sealed itself back up, leaving no trace that it was ever there.

Now inside the bar, Seiga immediately set to work. Producing a brush and a sheaf of blank papers from somewhere within her ridiculous santa outfit, she laid the talismans-to-be out on the ground and began to ink them.

Where Reiko’s runes and glyphs were meticulous, as precise as if a printer had created them, Seiga’s were elegant and flowing, a testament to her mastery of the craft. Any imperfections from the speed at which the hermit worked were not only smoothed over by the rest of the runes in each talisman, they were incorporated as twists in the spell, actually reinforcing the final product and making it that much harder to counteract. One of the most difficult parts of being Seiga’s student, Reiko found, was managing to properly adapt the hermit’s runes into a format suitable for her own use.

Seiga spoke as she worked, in no particular need of focus due to her familiarity with the matter.

“Tell me, Reiko, are you familiar with the story of Hoichi the Earless?”

“Yes,” Reiko replied, “a musician was bewitched by spirits and made to play the  _ Tale of the Heike _ for them night after night, until a priest discovered him and wrote the Heart Sutra over every inch of his body, rendering him invisible to the spirits as long as he stayed still and allowing him to escape their influence.”

“Except, of course, for his ears, which the priest forgot to write the Sutra on, allowing the spirits to see his ears and tear them off,” Seiga added, snickering to herself at the priest's amateurish mistake. Reiko was impressed she could laugh, talk, and scribe runes simultaneously. “Anyways, these talismans work on a similar idea - they ward an area from perception for around an hour, provided you have at least four of them. More, if you want to ward a larger area than this.”

Finishing the last runes, she began slapping the talismans up almost haphazardly around the shop. “The enchantment on these is only good for that time, so you need to make them fresh at the scene. Additionally, the ward only works from the outside, so if someone walks into the area they'll see you. Now that  _ that _ little lesson’s over with - Yoshika! My cute little minion! Be a dear and get the toys for me!”

The zombie girl attempted to comply, her stiff limbs struggling with the bag for several moments before she finally gave up and held the bag open, offering it to Seiga.

“Thank you, dear. Now then, what shall I leave… ah ha! The rock that looks like a frog!”

Grinning, she retrieved a rock from the bag. It in no way resembled a frog.

Slapping the rock onto the bar’s serving counter with no concern given to possibly damaging either item, Seiga grabbed another bag from within the folds of her costume and pulled it open.

“And now for my payment.”

“Do you really have to do this?”

The hermit ignored her student's question, rummaging through the bar's shelves and tossing anything that looked valuable into her bag. Reiko was sure she heard at least a few items break, but that seemed to do nothing to encourage care in Seiga’s eager looting. Eventually, with a quarter of the bar’s dishware and the entire contents of the till stolen, the hermit opened another hole in the building and the trio departed.

* * *

After hitting a number of other houses in the village (“Hieda's rich enough to have guards, we’re skipping her”) the trio made their way over to the Misty Lake, Gensokyo's largest body of water, so named for the dense mist that settled over it every noon.

Their first destination on the lake shore was a section of thick snow, with some small ice floes in the nearby water. Someone had built a small igloo, with a snowman diligently standing guard outside. Seiga casually shoved the inanimate sculpture over as she strode for the igloo and drew up another hole.

The hermit stepped eagerly inside, stepping over her next victim, a little girl in a blue dress patterned with a row of white triangles running along the bottom. She wore a blue ribbon in her light blue hair, and six large ice crystals floated behind her back in a facsimile of wings, forcing the girl to sleep facedown on the pile of snow she called a bed.

Reiko already knew who that was. “Master,” she whispered. “Tell me we’re not seriously robbing Cirno.”

Seiga, in the process of examining a frog trapped inside a block of ice, replied, “We are absolutely robbing Cirno.”

The Fairies of Gensokyo were, as a rule, a generally childish and simple lot, and as easy to kill as they were easy to fool - that is to say,  _ very _ . Cirno the Ice Fairy laid claim to the title of ‘the strongest,’ and her combat ability certainly backed that claim up. However, strongest among Fairies was about the same as ‘fastest among slugs’ - it didn't amount to much.

However, the Fairies did have one thing in their favor - they were inextricably tied to an aspect of nature. As long as that aspect existed, killing a fairy was no more than a minor inconvenience to them, and a weak moron with infinite lives and a fondness for pranks could eventually prove to be quite the nuisance. Cirno was tied to ‘chillness’, or, more specifically, the idea that some things were colder than others. Reiko imagined she’d probably exist till the end of the world.

The ice fairy in question began to stir as Seiga placed the frozen frog down a bit too forcefully. The hermit froze up for a moment, daring not to move a muscle as the fairy rolled into her side.

As Cirno resumed snoring, Seiga let out a breath of relief. “This sort of robbery requires the utmost subtlety, Reiko. I'm sure you'll appreciate it when you’re older.”

Finding nothing valuable on the igloo’s floor, she looked expectantly at her minion. “Yoshika?”

The Jiangshi gave a thumbs-up, reached down, and snapped the sleeping fairy's neck. Almost immediately, Cirno exploded into a cloud of glowing vapor.

“Blasted fairies like to hide stuff,” Seiga grumbled as she began digging through Cirno’s ‘bed’. “Yoshika, be a dear and keep her occupied if she respawns while I’m still searching!”

“Yes, Lady Seiga,” the Jiangshi groaned.

Reiko just rolled her eyes and began floating away from the igloo.

* * *

Seiga caught up with Reiko at the gate of an enormous mansion that stood at the lake's edge.

“I think that one went well,” she said cheerily. Her fake beard appeared to be frozen into one solid chunk.

“Did Cirno actually have anything of value?” Reiko asked, glancing at Yoshika. The jiangshi’s outstretched arms had slowly-melting icicles hanging from them.

The hermit snickered. “While Yoshika kept her busy I found where she keeps the money she gets from her festival stall.”

“Wait, people actually buy her stuff?”

“Sometimes you need a snack.”

“She sells shaved ice.  _ Ice-flavored _ shaved ice.”

“Costs her nothing to make it - it's pure profit. An entrepreneur after my own heart. Now then, what do we have here…”

An explosion sounded from somewhere within the mansion, prompting Seiga to peek around the outer wall and through the main gate.

“Dammit, the gate guard’s sprawled out unconscious on the main path. That explosion was probably Kirisame and her usual brand of ‘stealthy’ burglary. Gotta call this one off - they'll be on high alert.”

“So we’re done for the night?” Reiko offered hopefully - she couldn’t imagine Seiga would try to rob either of the two houses in the Forest of Magic. Magicians had a way of making sure thieves knew they were unwelcome.

“Not quite, we've got one last stop…”

* * *

The antique store known as Kourindou sat a distance away from the village, almost exactly half-way between it and the Forest of Magic. Its owner, resident, and proprietor, Morichika Rinnosuke, was a half-youkai, and was never particularly trusted by the residents of the village due to his unaging nature. As with all their previous stops, Seiga drew a hole in the wall, producing an opening for their entry into the shop.

“My door was  _ open _ , Miss Kaku,” an exasperated Rinnosuke greeted the trio.

The hermit ignored the complaint, placing her bag of stolen valuables onto his counter. “Oh, sure, you always say that, but then you never want me to come in. Got a good haul for you this time, plenty of good stuff for you to pick from.”

“I never want you in because your visits are inevitably followed by a full week of people coming in, justifiably irate, to complain about being robbed and retrieve their items,” Rinnosuke replied. “And half the time they try to con me into giving them something that  _ wasn’t  _ originally theirs.”

“It’s their own fault for being robbed if they don’t secure their goods well enough! You deal with Kirisame fairly regularly, what makes me any different? I come here on a regular basis to-”

Reiko tuned the argument out as she began to idly browse the shelves. Rinnosuke's Ability let him know the name and purpose of an item, though its vague descriptions and his own lack of knowledge about the Outside World led him to wildly extrapolate from that base knowledge and produce some thoroughly ridiculous conclusions.

Like the one she was looking at right now.

_ Cement Gun, _ a plaque placed below the item (a strange, round item apparently meant to be strapped to the arm) proudly proclaimed.  _ A device for the purpose of restraining targets with an adhesive projectile. While the residents of Gensokyo more familiar with human technology will recognize a ‘gun’ as a device used to attempt to kill targets at range (and generally useless at its intended role, as far as youkai are concerned), this item does not display any traits from an actual gun. The secret to its name is that it is actually a false cognate, and is generally unrelated to a firearm. Rather, the ‘gun’ in its name is actually a corrupted form of ‘gan’, from ‘ganbare’, or ‘do your best’. The device’s adhesive projectiles are unable to prove more than a minor inconvenience unless the user is able to land many hits on-target. Thus, it gained this name as a sarcastic remark towards the user, instructing them to ‘do their best’ while using something that somehow manages to be the least-effective weapon yet conceived. Recommended as a training device for spell card duels, if you can figure out how to reload it. 5 Ryō. _

Reiko had to clamp a hand over her mouth to suppress her giggles at Rinnosuke’s usual ridiculously convoluted (and wrong) explanations. She briefly turned her attention back to the arguing pair.

“You tried to sell me a corpse! A  _ corpse _ !”

“It was a facsimile made of mud that would've disappeared within the hour, you big baby.”

“That just makes me even  _ less _ inclined to deal with you!”

Nope, still negotiating. She turned to another item - a small television screen being described as an unwieldy scrying device for non-mages.

* * *

Eventually exhausting her supply of easy laughs, Reiko left the shop first, taking the opportunity to just sit and watch the night sky for a few minutes. It was one of the things she really loved about Gensokyo - the brilliance of all the stars normally drowned out by the lights of modern civilization. It was almost peaceful, if you ignored the ever-present threat of Yakumo Yukari appearing to ruin your day.

The sound of Kourindou’s door behind her alerted her that Seiga had finished haggling. Sitting on the grass next to her, the hermit handed her pupil a rolled-up piece of paper. Hesitantly, Reiko unrolled it.

It was a poster of Idealist - a limited edition item, one of a set of fifty signed ones from the only promotional run the Paladin Hero had managed to do. It was somehow in miraculously perfect condition despite having ended up in Gensokyo.

Reiko was speechless for a long while. 

“...How?” She finally asked.

“Rinnosuke’s had that thing in his shop for about a month now. You liked that guy, right? That Hero? He was the one who kept you safe before I found you.”

Reiko wordlessly nodded.

“It means a lot to me, you know. That you keep coming back, I mean. I know you didn’t have the best introduction here, and I honestly didn’t expect to ever see you again after you stole that spell from my private collection - nice job with that, by the way, exactly what I would have done in your place - but you showed up again half a year later and demanded I teach you more.”

Reiko smiled. It had taken most of that time just to convince herself Yukari wasn’t lurking around every corner ready to take her back, and the first conclusion she had come to was that she needed more power, so if anyone else ever became lost in Gensokyo, she could do what Idealist had tried to do for her.

“Miko’s apprentices back at the Mausoleum will say you’re going soft, Master.”

“I’ll boil their guts and call every spirit at my command to drag them to the Hell of Blazing Fires,” Seiga snapped in response. “I was having a moment there, Reiko. It just reminds me of old times, you know? Me and Miko, just striving for strength… I see some of that in you.”

“The two of you manipulated a religious conflict as a smokescreen for your quest for power,” the gray-haired girl replied flatly.

Seiga huffed. “So we’ve got slightly different views on what's acceptable in the pursuit of power, you’ll get there one day. The lovely thing about immortality is you can outrun the consequences of your actions. Don't tell me you haven't thought of becoming a Shikaisen.”

Reiko didn’t have a response for that.

They fell quiet for a bit after that. Flickering lights in the direction of the Hakurei Shrine indicated another concert was going on - that explained the relatively quiet night.

“You know, if the poster was gone and I didn’t find it in any of the houses we were looting I was going to conjure up that guy’s ghost to talk to you.”

“Master.”

“Oh come on, you can’t really think he might still be alive! You last saw him yelling at you to run while he was brandishing a sword like he was gonna be able to fight off Yu-”

“ _ SEIGA. _ ”

“Fine, fine, I’ll drop it. I'm heading back home.”

The Wicked Hermit stood up and walked off, her undead pet lumbering after her as fast as her stiff legs could carry her.

Reiko began scribing the rune circle that would let her travel back home - this poster needed to be kept safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those readers unfamiliar with Touhou lore: it is 100% actual Touhou canon that Seiga Kaku dresses up as Santa to go around at Christmastime, leaving presents in houses and then extracting payment from the sleeping residents' possessions. No word on her putting fuzzy reindeer antlers on Yoshika, though.


	17. The Curtain Shall Rise Soon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hero Students attend to their internships, unaware that a new incident is quickly approaching.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I broke two hundred kudos! My eternal thanks for your continuing support of this fic.

Shinsou let out a wheezing breath as he hit the mat. Uraraka immediately moved to help him.

“You okay? I threw you a bit harder than I meant to there.”

“I’ll say,” he replied, rubbing his back. He was gonna be sore in the morning. “You’re way stronger than you look.”

“Good throw, Uraraka, your form’s looking excellent,” Gunhead stated. “Shinsou, a lunging attack like that leaves you overextended and vulnerable to a followup attack if your opponent - like Uraraka - reads your attack and dodges it.”

The mind controller rolled his eyes. “Then what  _ should _ I do? Because so far I feel like I’ve just been a punching bag.”

Surprisingly, Gunhead had an answer for him. “Focus more on your defense. You get impatient and rush in to try to get a good hit - probably because your Quirk leaves the target disoriented and you usually want to capitalize on that. Remember, we’re sparring without quirks right now, so your opponent will be fully aware. It’s a close quarters fight, you don’t need to rush in. Take a careful approach, so you can keep your guard up. Try it on me.” 

Shinsou did as he was told, carefully keeping his hands up in a fighting stance as he drew closer to Gunhead. As he approached, the Battle Hero threw a quick jab to probe his defenses, which he was able to block without much trouble. The hero drew his arm back before Shinsou could attempt a throw, however.

It was a different sort of fight than Shinsou was used to - in sparring matches back at UA, he had to lean on his quirk and the element of surprise to have any hope of victory. Kamakiri, Tetsutetsu, Kendo... 1-B had no shortage of fighters that would put him on his ass before he could even say ‘may the best man win’. So fighting on even footing, as much as he knew Gunhead was going easy on him for training purposes, was a nice change of pace. After a bit, the hero made a show of overextending on a hook, and Shinsou took the offered opening, grabbing the arm and attempting a throw.

The muscular hero failed to budge, giving an apologetic cough as he did so. “Sorry, Shinsou. My style’s based around my strength. I was worried this might happen.”

“Then why’d you pick me?” Shinsou asked grumpily. “I can’t learn your techniques.”

“You’re learning the basics of hand-to-hand, aren’t you? It's still a foundation you can build on.”

He had to admit that Gunhead had a point. And he probably wouldn’t have picked it up in the Heroics course, either - the training sessions tended to focus on sparring matches and quirk development.

“Keep at it for another hour or so, then we’ll go on patrol. I’m sure Uraraka will be willing to help.”

Uraraka seemed weirdly spaced out, like she wasn’t hearing anything Gunhead was saying. Her breathing was weirdly strained, too.

“Are you feeling okay?” Shinsou asked, tapping her on the shoulder.

She quickly recovered from whatever weird spell she was under. “Yeah, I’m fine, sorry.”

Shinsou wasn’t completely sure of that, but she seemed perfectly healthy now that…  _ whatever _ that was had passed.

“When are we going on patrol?” She asked, looking at Gunhead.

Gunhead's phone suddenly buzzed with a message. The hero checked it. “Unfortunately, no patrol tonight, it seems. We'll need to cut sparring short, too.”

“What's happening?”

“Just got a request from a nearby prison. You know that convicted murderer, Moonfish? He’s been sentenced to Tartarus. They wanted to know if we were available to provide security during the transfer. We’ll head out in a half hour, so get your stuff together.”

* * *

Reiko was no fool, and she wasn’t in the habit of lying. Aizawa would have just slowed her search down, and the search itself would probably be either inconclusive, or turn up bad news. There were just too many scenarios in which the missing Mineta Minoru could have gotten himself killed - stayed on the ground of the Forest of Magic for too long, tried to eat bamboo without proper preparation, tried to sexually harass the Flower Master of Four Seasons, tried to sexually harass any of the residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, tried to sexually harass one of the Tengu, tried to…

Well, really, judging by the list of complaints against him lodged by former classmates, his normal attitude would be the single greatest threat to his safety. And considering that the alternative, once he realized the very real danger he was in, was apparently just locking up in panic, things overall didn’t look good for his prospects.

Regardless, Reiko  _ did _ want to be a Hero, even if her exact motivation was slightly unorthodox, and she gave her word that she’d properly look for the boy. It was to this end that she turned up at a wooden cart set up in the middle of the road - the only source of light anywhere in sight. A banner waving from it proclaimed that it was selling grilled Lamprey Eel.

There were only two other people at the stand - a customer, and the proprietor herself. The owner and chef was a grey-eyed girl with pink hair and strange, tufted ears resembling an owl’s tucked carefully under a brown cap topped with a birdlike ornament. She wore a white apron over her brown dress as she worked, adeptly gutting and skewering lampreys while fanning the flames of her grill to maintain a steady temperature. The bird wings protruding from her back, along with her long, talonlike nails, made her inhuman nature clear to any observer. 

Her customer was a stark contrast in comparison. She was a tall woman with pinkish-red hair tied into two ponytails, each fastened with a pair of red hair beads. In contrast to the lamprey vendor’s simple clothing, her own clothing was brightly colored, with a blue vest worn over a white dress, which in turn was layered over a slightly longer blue one, all kept secure by an obi with a large coin tied to the center of it in a rather casual display of wealth. A large scythe rested beside her, its blade tapering off to a wispy ripple.

She paid Reiko no mind as the hero student took a seat at the other end of the cart. “Hey, Mystia, you done with those skewers yet?”

“You can see for yourself that I’ve only just put them on the grill,” the bird youkai replied, not taking her eyes off the grilling eels. “You only ordered them thirty seconds ago, you should have ordered more before you finished eating the first set.”

“Fine, fine. Give me another bottle of sake while I wait.” The customer dropped a handful of mon coins onto the table. Reiko was absolutely positive she was massively overpaying, but she didn’t seem to ask for change, and Mystia certainly wasn’t about to complain as she casually grabbed a bottle labeled ‘Old Hell Special’ from below the counter and placed it in front of her customer.

Mystia whistled as she worked, a strange, haunting melody that seemed to stick in Reiko’s mind. The night seemed to grow darker, somehow.

“And how about you?” Mystia suddenly asked. “Grilled Lamprey? They’re an excellent cure for night blindness.”

Reiko tried vainly to blink the darkness from her eyes - even the well-lit cart was starting to grow dim now. She reached out with her quirk, grasping hold of some dirt in case she needed to defend herself.

The scythe-wielding woman drained her glass of sake and slammed it down on the cart’s counter. “Don’t scam the human, Mystia. You get a decent enough amount of customers as-is, you don’t want to get a bad reputation.”

“I just wanted to know if she was buying something!” The bird youkai defended herself, holding her hands up in front of her in a placating gesture. Sight immediately returned to Reiko’s eyes. “But really, are you going to buy anything? I’ve got a business here.”

“Uh, yeah, I’ll have a...” Reiko’s eyes flitted across the menu. Nothing but varying amounts of lamprey skewers and several different brews of sake. “Double skewer, please. And water if you have it. I was wondering, have you seen a kid recently? Looks like this.” She pulled out Mineta’s file.

The other customer pulled some more coins out of her seemingly-bottomless pouch and poured them on the table in front of Reiko before snatching the file from Reiko’s hands without getting up from her seat. “I’ll pay. Lemme take a look at that.”

Reiko struggled to understand what had just happened before finally recognizing the other woman. Onozuka Komachi, the ferrywoman of the Sanzu River, and wielder of the Ability to Manipulate Distances. Naturally, Reiko sitting fifteen feet away meant nothing to Komachi.

“Well, I don’t recognize him, so he hasn’t crossed into the afterlife.”

“Do you even see what your passengers looked like in life?” Mystia wondered, placing Komachi’s triple skewer in front of her. “I remember when I fought you all the spirits were just hitodama.”

“Yeah, I’m a shinigami, I know what everyone looked like.” the ferrywoman replied, biting firmly on one of her lampreys and extracting it from the skewer with a single, long pull.

“Mmm-hmm. And when was the last time you actually ferried someone across?”

Komachi shrugged. “Six years, give or take.”

Mystia made a strangled chirp and flailed a little. Reiko was slightly worried her lamprey skewer would get burned “Wh- Six  _ years _ !? You caused an Incident the last time you slacked off! I was there! You’re telling me nobody’s gotten judged for years now?”

Reiko was inclined to agree with Mystia’s disbelief. “How are you even still the ferrywoman?”

“They can’t fire me,” the shinigami chuckled, “I’m the only one who can manipulate the Sanzu the way they want. It needs to be wide according to the weight of the passenger’s sins, and I’m the only shinigami who can do something like that.”

“Just please do your job at some point,” the bird youkai sighed. “Ideally  _ before _ ghosts start running free and possessing things again. Here’s your skewers, by the way.”

Reiko took the double skewer. “So neither of you have seen him, then?”

“Nope, so he hasn’t been around any of the main roads,” Mystia replied. “And I haven’t heard any of my regulars mentioning anything about him, so he probably didn’t end up in the Forest of Magic or the Bamboo Forest. You’ve got a lot of ground to cover, regardless.”

The hero student sighed. “I figured as much. Thanks for the help anyways.”

* * *

A jagged tendril of liquefied ground swept out towards the training dummy. Like a crack spreading from an impact point, it narrowed as it went, and by the time it reached its intended target, it was nowhere near enough to consume the mannequin. It took another ten seconds before it widened enough.

Izuku shook his head at his failure and resolidified the ground. It was the same each time - he had figured out directing his Ability at range, but it still grew narrower and weaker the further it got from him. He was sure it was some problem with his mental image, but he didn’t know what he should be picturing. His immediate thought of blooming plants or fruit growing on a vine just resulted in him creating those - blasted mental image-based power.

As it currently stood, it wasn’t very useful. Ten seconds was more than enough time for enemies to evade at the range he was currently using his transformations at.

“You've made admirable progress already,” Kamui Woods said. “I’ve seen your files - to have progressed this much after only discovering your Quirk a year ago is incredible. There’s no shame in having trouble applying it in a way you haven't tried before. You’ve already figured half of it out.”

“I can't shake the feeling that I’m just not getting something about how my power works,” Izuku sighed.

“That sort of gut feeling often turns out to be right,” the hero admitted. “I spent half a year of hero school unable to precisely direct my Quirk. Turned out I was trying to guide it wrong.”

“You did?” Izuku had already retrieved his notebook and was jotting down new details about Kamui’s life before he even finished the two-word question. “How did you overcome that?”

“Desperation in an actual combat scenario during my first internship. I don’t recommend it as a learning strategy. It was a stupid risk and a hostage could have died if it didn’t work out.”

Though his face was concealed, Izuku could tell from his eyes that Kamui was giving him a comforting smile. “You don’t have to put pressure on yourself to get it perfect immediately, that’s what partnering you with an experienced hero is for. Besides, you’ll have time to try using your new technique in the field tonight.”

“Where will we be patrolling tonight?”

The hero had a habit of mixing up where he patrolled, so that criminals wouldn’t be able to plan around his movements. This had led to some late nights on Izuku’s part. Unsurprisingly, tonight was another curveball. “Hosu.”

“Hosu? Isn’t that a couple hours away by train?”

He nodded. “The Hero Killer attacked Ingenium in that area recently, so increasing hero presence in the city should hopefully stop him from being able to act freely, and maybe even catch him. We’ll need to get a move on as soon as possible, though.”

* * *

Working under Komuso was informative but dull, Tokoyami quickly discovered. The hero’s quirk wasn’t suited for combat and he knew it, serving in a more investigative role than anything else. Tokoyami found himself wondering why the man had even decided to become a hero rather than joining the police force. Worse, his ideas for corralling Dark Shadow mainly amounted to making the two of them meditate via ascetic means of varying intensity.

At least he was nice - while the man himself simply slept on the floor of his agency, he had rented a hotel room for his intern. Tokoyami was currently lying in bed, reviewing the copy he had made of his ancestor's diary with the aid of a small book light.

_ Satsuki 14 - I was approached with a most strange request the other night. Several villagers from Aki province, evidently having heard of my role in the suppression of the traitor saint, sought to hire my services for a youkai extermination. Said that their province’s chief shrine was haunted by a spirit that lurked around the grounds. Could only offer me rice as payment, they said. Patently ridiculous - I have no intention of risking my life trying to take on a monster in exchange for a meal. _

_ Chisaki, on the other hand, was entirely too eager to offer his services. I imagine he would have rushed off then and there if I hadn’t reigned him in. Damn fool nearly lost an eye last month and he still hasn't learned caution. All the gratitude in the world won’t bring you back to life if you get killed, moron. Think before you volunteer to go hunting monsters! Stick to duels and mercenary work! _

_ Satsuki 15 - That fool ran off in the middle of the night with the villagers. Just grabbed his yari and left. I can’t leave him to his own devices - he’d be dead in less than a month. I have to chase after him. _

“Dark Shadow?”

The Sentient Quirk didn’t even look up from the romance novel its beak was currently buried in. “Hm?”

“Do you think… is it possible Yanagi could have been right about this? Should I have picked Hawks instead?”

Dark Shadow flipped to the next page. “Pretty sure Komuso would tell you that worrying about the past and ‘what-ifs’ hinders the path to enlightenment.”

“‘To achieve peace with your Quirk, you must first achieve inner peace,’” the bird-headed boy quoted, mimicking the hero’s mannerisms as he did so.

The two of them snickered in unison.

“But seriously,” Dark Shadow added, “the guy has a point. You’ve made your choice. No point in fretting over whether it was the right one or not, just gotta go with it.”

Shrugging, Tokoyami turned back to the diary.

_ Satsuki 20 - Came across the aftermath of a battle: six dead bandits. Chisaki just left them to rot where they fell. That’s how you get ghosts, idiot. Took some time from my journey to bury them properly. Killed another two bandits who thought I would be easy prey just because I was a woman. Buried them too. _

_ Minazuki 4 - Finally arrived at the village. Chisaki greeted me before I even made it past their farmland, overjoyed at my ‘change of heart’. One bright spot - the villagers neglected to tell the whole story when they first approached. This ‘spirit’ of theirs lurks around the main shrine, has left footprints, and steals offerings left for the gods. He’s also been seen in daylight. He’s no ghost, he’s a bandit preying on superstitious peasants. Easy enough to deal with, though hardly worth the trip. This better be damn good rice for all this trouble. _

_ Minazuki 5 - Set out for the island. Chisaki had wanted to go last night, but I convinced him to wait. Best to travel by day - less risk of youkai attack that way. Neither of us are youkai hunters, and I don’t want to waste the few purification charms I have. I’ve only got three and have no intention of wasting them. _

_ Minazuki 6 - Writing this entry as we’re about to cross over to the island itself. We arrived at the shore last night, but I refused to allow a nighttime crossing. If this ‘spirit’ is a bandit, he’ll be easy enough to handle by daylight. If he’s something worse, then I don't want to waste a charm dealing with a funayurei on the way to the island. _

“Yanagi was wrong about one thing, though,” Dark Shadow suddenly interrupted, making Tokoyami jolt. He hadn’t realized his Quirk had slid up to his shoulder. The being jabbed a shadowy hand into the journal entries, back towards the start. “The villagers said they could only pay her in rice and she refused to accept their offer until her partner went with them. A scam artist wouldn’t do that.”

“And this was one of only a few youkai hunts she did,” Tokoyami added. “She always seems to be worried about them. She didn’t want to accept the hunt, she buried the bandits rather than risk ghosts, and she refused to travel at night. Even in earlier entries, when she went to confront the demon saint, she only did so as part of a large group and expressed relief that the incident ended without conflict. If she was a scam artist, why would she bother to keep the lie going in her own personal journals? Why wouldn’t she go on ‘youkai hunts’ all the time, rather than getting most of her money from working as a sellsword?”

He was filled with renewed confidence as he declared, “Yanagi’s wrong about youkai not existing. She  _ has _ to be.”

* * *

“It’s about time we make another move,” Shigaraki suddenly declared.

Kurogiri concurred. “I was thinking that myself, though I felt it prudent to wait until you believed we should act. You are the boss, after all.”

“YuugenMagan’s not quite fixed yet,” Elis protested, lazing around on the couch.

Shigaraki glared at the demon. “Then stop lying around and  _ fix it _ .”

“It’s not that simple. She’s fully repaired, but she needs to regather her strength, her  _ hate _ .”

“She needs… hatred.” Kurogiri said in a clearly skeptical tone, somehow managing to raise an eyebrow despite his entire head being made of dark fog.

Elis rolled her eyes. “I’m a human who became a Demon through my Master’s power. YuugenMagan is an Onryo that made a similar transition. And much like her original form, she grows stronger by holding grudges. So yes, she needs hate.”

“She hardly seems strong enough to have been an Onryo,” Shigaraki said. The myths were consistent - Onryo were terrifying foes. The kami Tenjin, in modern times a humble deity governing scholarship, had originally been the vengeful spirit of the disgraced noble Sugawara no Michizane. After blighting the capital with calamity after calamity, the only way the priests could find to stop the enraged ghost had been enshrining him as a god of natural disasters.

“Because she didn't have any  _ hatred _ behind her,” Elis replied, slowly, like she was explaining things to a child. “She would have won that fight, but that Midoriya kid could actually hurt her and she has a nasty habit of playing with her food. But now? Now she knows him. Now she  _ hates _ him.”

“And we can’t field her immediately because?”

“She needs to fill up her tanks. Have you ever heard of an Onryo attacking immediately after they died?” 

Kurogiri seemed perplexed. “I haven’t read enough folklore to say.”

Rolling her eyes at his ignorance, Elis simply reasserted, “She’s gathering her strength.”

Shigaraki finally seemed to lose his patience. “ _ Enough. _ We can’t bring out the Summon, so what? We’ve got plenty of other units at our disposal.”

“What shall our next move be, then?” the bartender inquired.

“We’ll unleash some of our Nomus onto Hosu,” the young villain confidently stated. “Stain wants to hunt heroes so bad - we’ll add our own hunters into the mix. We’ll show we’re far more dangerous than he.”

“You just want to take some petty revenge on him for getting the drop on you when negotiations failed,” Elis replied, sitting up on the sofa and stretching her wings. “But I’ll go with you anyways. Sounds like fun, and I can check up on how he’s handling Master’s blessing while I’m at it.”

“You won’t be going to Hosu.”

“If you’re expecting me to just sit around the base, you’re sorely mistaken.” The magician said, baring a mouth of sharp, pointed fangs. “I’ve no intention of letting another of your incursions go by without souls for Master.”

After a moment, she muttered to herself, “YuugenMagan’s defeat was already an embarrassing enough failure.”

“You’re not going,” Shigaraki replied confidently, “Because I have a better objective in mind for you. Stain didn’t meet our criteria - he was too weak, and more importantly his precious ‘code’ wasn’t compatible with our goals. There’s a potential recruit I want you to break out who should have neither of those problems. You’ll be able to spill as much blood as you want.”

A cruel smile split the demon’s face. “I’m listening.”

* * *

The sun was beginning to set on Hosu by the time Iida went on patrol with Manual. It was as good a night as he would get for his purposes - the Full Moon would minimize the shadows available for Stain to skull around in, and the Hero Killer wasn’t one for daytime brawls. He just needed to slip away from his supervisor somehow, and then he could search for the villain.

The task was easier said than done, surprisingly - he had picked Manual in order to be in the right area to hunt Stain, assuming that the Hero (who was thoroughly unremarkable) would be easy to use. However, the hydrokinetic hero proved to be much sharper than Iida had anticipated. Worse, he wanted to be a role model for new and upcoming heroes, and as such was keeping a close eye on his intern to make sure the internship went smoothly.

As Iida silently hoped for a distraction of some kind - any kind - Manual suddenly stopped and turned towards him. “Iida.”

“Yes?”

“I’m grateful you chose my agency, but I fear you picked me just because I operate near where your brother was attacked. Am I correct?”

Iida couldn’t respond.

“I feared as much. It's good to want justice, to want to hunt down evildoers, but you're still just a student. We have Quirk laws for a reason, you still haven't finished all the training you need to know how to use your Quirk in a public setting without risking collateral damage. Do you understand? Trying to hunt down Stain would not only be extremely dangerous, but a severe crime.”

“...yes, I understand.”

It wasn’t a lie - Iida knew very well what he was going to do went against the law. But he couldn't allow the man who crippled his brother to run free.

Manual’s expression softened. “I’m sorry to lecture you, but I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t do anything you’d come to regret. You can still do plenty of good on patrol, you know.”

The idea was a hollow comfort to Iida. They continued their patrol for another half hour, Manual watching him like a hawk, until Iida got his opening.

A lean, white, muscular creature came hurtling out of the sky like a comet, slamming into a nearby storefront and digging furrows into the cement as it stopped itself with cruel, gleaming claws. It sniffed at the air, relying on scent to find prey due to a distinct lack of eyes.

“Iida!” Manual shouted, as panicked civilians began fleeing the scene, screaming all the while, “Make sure all the civilians are evacuated from the area! Prioritize their safety, not apprehending the villain!”

After a moment with no reply, he turned to his intern.

Iida was gone.

* * *

Iida stumbled on Stain at just the right time - the Hero Killer was in the middle of attacking another Hero. Native, if Iida remembered right.

It was a strange sight, though. Native lay crumpled and motionless on the ground, but Stain had dropped his jagged katana and was touching a hand to his nose in apparent bewilderment. Had the hero managed to defend himself somehow? Iida didn’t remember what his Quirk was, but he wasn’t going to let the opening go.

Like a human comet, he streaked in and slammed a knee directly into Stain’s face while the Hero Killer was still distracted. The villain’s nose made a very satisfying crunch as he staggered back from the force of the blow.

Not giving him a second to recover, Iida delivered a firm kick to the Hero Killer’s kneecap, producing another loud crack and sending Stain to the ground. Another kick, and Stain’s weapons were scattered away from him, leaving him unarmed.

“Listen up,  _ criminal _ ,” he spat at the prone villain. “A week ago you attacked my brother and left him in critical condition. I’ve come to avenge his defeat. Remember the name Ingenium when you’re rotting in Tartarus.”

“Ingenium…?” Stain sneered. “Yes, I remember him. A false hero, like so many others. I have no regrets about cutting him down. He was a disgrace to the field of Heroics.”

“He was an exemplary hero! And once I’ve taken you in, I’ll follow in his footsteps.”

“Take me in?” A murderous gleam entered Stain’s eyes. “Nobody but All Might is worthy of taking me in.”

Like a viper striking, Stain suddenly whipped an arm out, causing a knife he had concealed in his arm wraps to slip out. Clutching it firmly, he drove it through Iida’s foot, tore it out, and licked the blood off the blade. Iida immediately dropped to the ground beside him.

Before his horrified eyes, Stain’s twisted, broken nose fixed itself and snapped back into place. The Hero Killer got up slowly, unsteadily, on legs that definitely should not have been able to support his weight with a broken knee. He walked over to retrieve his katana.

“ _ Vengeance _ ,” he hissed, “is not the act of a Hero.”

He drew closer.

“Nor are  _ promotional deals _ , or  _ signings _ , or  _ public speeches _ .”

He stopped in front of Iida’s face. Iida was powerless to even turn his head up to watch the Hero Killer.

“All things you or your brother are guilty of.”

Stain raised his katana.

“I will not rest until all false Heroes are purged from society.”

The blade fell.

* * *

“Mommy, look, the Heroes are fighting!”

Sumireko let out an indignant huff. She was already in a bad enough mood - she had been on a train for two hours to look into an internet rumor about a pet shop selling Tsuchinokos  _ _ ( _ Tsuchinokos, _ of all things! You couldn't find those just anywhere, even in… well, actually she knew for a fact there was at least one person in Gensokyo who owned one as a pet, but still! An actual Tsuchinoko! In the Outside World!) only to discover that it was a distressingly mundane pet shop that overfed its animals to a remarkable degree. She had been hoping she’d be at least able to get some sleep on the way back, so she could visit Gensokyo via her dreams. Maybe even have a duel with Mokou - she wanted to fight something right now after that frustrating outing. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be happening now, courtesy of a screaming child.

Hero battles happened all the time - Sumireko never saw the point in watching them. Ooh, the big musclehead beat the skinny dude with sharp teeth, what a shock. She much preferred exploring the world’s great mysteries. So, she turned away from the window, put on her earphones, and queued up one of her favorite podcasts about urban legends as something to hopefully fall asleep to.

That hope was soon dashed as a hapless hero - some moron whose outfit looked like he got in a losing fight with a paint factory, no less - was thrown bodily into the train car, slamming through the metal walls and coming to rest in a broken heap about seven seats ahead of her.

The thing he had been fighting soon followed, leaping into the newly opened hole to finish off its victim. It was a huge, musclebound brute, with a beaklike mouth filled with sharp teeth and strange, matte black skin. Its brain was exposed, though it seemed to show no signs of caring or even noticing that fact as it advanced on the crumpled hero.

People began screaming. The train driver made some announcement in a nonplussed voice as the train engaged its brakes and slowed to a halt.

Well, at least she’d get a fight in today.

Sumireko stood up from her seat, letting her psychic power flow completely uncontrolled, shrouding her in darkness and a purple aura. No sense letting people identify her - that would just get police involved, and police were a problem for  _ normal _ people to worry about.

And Sumireko was anything but normal.

Usami Sumireko was the closest human on the planet to becoming a youkai.

She let her Urban Legend flow into her, gaining power and sustenance from it - a trick picked up over the course of her persistent research into the supernatural, aided significantly by her friends in Gensokyo and one particularly disruptive Incident. A lovely story, that of the doppelganger. The idea that everyone has an exact duplicate somewhere else in the world - yes, that one was nice, that one was plausible enough that it kept going even well after other myths had long died out, leaving a wellspring of power just waiting to be tapped by anyone who knew how.

An exact duplicate of Sumireko came into existence, stepping out of thin air right beside her, and she let loose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tokoyami's Ancestor's Diary is using the old Japanese calendar, which, wikipedia tells me, was a lunar cycle calendar and offset from the Gregorian calendar by about three weeks, so the months don't line up exactly with the months we know today.  
Aki Province no longer exists, having been combined with the neighboring Bingo Province to form the modern Hiroshima Prefecture. Itsukushima was the chief shrine of the province.  
Funayurei literally translates to "ship ghost". They're a type of Onryo that died by drowning and will spitefully seek to sink other ships that enter their territory. Nasty fellows.
> 
> YuugenMagan doesn't have any canon backstory, just like the other Highly Responsive to Prayers-only characters. We've just got a name and appearance, even her species is unknown. Thus, I took how the Evil Eye holds power due to hatred and spite, and combined it with the already hate-filled and spiteful Onryo.
> 
> I love Sumireko's doppelganger power, and the fact that it led to a canonical battle involving three Sumirekos, each of whom could summon more doppelganger Sumirekos, fighting each other.


	18. Bet on Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hosu Incident kicks off while Uraraka and Shinsou enjoy exceptionally boring and uneventful escort duty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Just wow. This broke 5k hits - I never even dreamed of that. I know I say this a lot, but I really appreciate all you guys. I'm happy I hit this mark on a long chapter.
> 
> This chapter's name was originally planned to be "Esotericist of the Present World", Sumireko's boss theme. However, a certain character ended up stealing far more of the show than I anticipated to the point I no longer considered Sumireko's fight to be the centerpiece of the chapter, necessitating a different name.  
The new name is the boss theme of the Five Magic Stones from the second Touhou game, Story of Eastern Wonderland. I don't think there's really a way I could work them into the story considering they don't have any lines in a game where bosses do actually have dialogue (and thus appear to be nonsentient), and their theme name is so menacing I felt like I had to use it at some point.

Every window in the train car exploded into fragments at the precise instant that every seat tore itself up from the floor. 

For a brief instant, they hovered in place, motionless, like a scene from some bizarre dream. The stillness was broken abruptly when they all moved at once, slamming into the monster from every side and cocooning it in debris. Impressively, the beast didn’t budge - if anything, it seemed enraged. Its emotional state, however, meant little as the mass of debris physically lifted it off of the ground and launched it from the train car with a casual gesture from Sumireko. Then, in a flash of light, she and her double both vanished, leaving the train car empty save for the terrified civilians and one severely injured hero.

As she reappeared on the street, Sumireko noticed with some small level of exasperation that a number of bystanders were still sitting and gawking at the fight, staring in awe and wonder at the creature that had just been sent flying from the train.

Rolling her eyes in disgust at their lack of self-preservation - not that they could tell, considering she was wreathed in shadows and venting purple psychic energy - she grabbed her 3D-printed Liberator pistol from her pocket and shot the creature, her shot striking true directly in the middle of its brain matter. It didn't flinch.

The bystanders started screaming and running now, the gunshot reinforcing to them that this was a matter they should not be involved in.

“_ That _ did nothing,” Sumireko muttered to herself in annoyance, tossing the useless weapon aside. A clench of her fist, and the firearm was crushed by raw psychic power. “Why do people even bother with these things?”

* * *

Kirishima Eijirou finished beating down another looter. The absolute chaos that had broken out in Hosu had drawn many of the less savory types out of the woodwork, all of them hoping to make some easy money while the Heroes were - they hoped - occupied with more pressing matters. Unfortunately for them, the incident was drawing in more heroes by the minute.

A gunshot rang out from somewhere nearby.

“Snipe doesn’t operate in Hosu,” was all the reasoning Gran Torino gave before launching himself in the direction they came from.

Kirishima had grown to appreciate All Might’s (and now his, he reminded himself) eccentric mentor over the brief time he'd worked with him. Although initially feigning senility, the elderly hero had quickly revealed his true nature, and the moment that the attack on Hosu had begun, he had quickly rushed out the door to help in the response, showing himself to be as sharp and capable as ever.

Kirishima hurried after him.

* * *

The beast roared, lunging for Sumireko with inhuman speed and bringing its fist down on nothing but air as the psychic teleported away once more. Its attention diverted, it failed to notice her double making an exaggerated gesture, holding her arms out wide before bringing them together in a large clapping motion. In sync with the motion, the asphalt along the entire street tore itself up and clapped the creature like two enormous hands, cracking from the force of the motion. This time, at least, the creature flinched slightly. Taking a wild backhanded swipe at the doppelganger, it once more hit nothing but air as the duplicate teleported away.

The thing was clearly made to fight a straight-up brawl - get up close and personal with someone who had no significant range options. It was nowhere near suited to fighting a long-ranged psychic. Too bad for it.

As it roared in what Sumireko imagined was rage, she made a casual gesture with one hand, causing the air between her and the beast, and all the way down its throat, to combust in a plume of brilliant flame. The creature _ shrieked _ at the unwelcome meal, charging at the high schooler with all the speed it could muster. To its credit, that was a significant amount. It slammed into her before she could react, accompanied by the sound of snapping bones.

As it fell limply to the ground, the doppelganger faded into nothingness.

Before the creature could make another move, the _ real _ Sumireko focused her energy on a point beneath its feet, blasting the creature into the air with a shockwave of psychic energy. While it flew through the air, she conjured up another doppelganger, which immediately made a theatrical gesture almost like she was conducting a symphony. The tattered remnants of the street tore open as sewer water launched into the sky, carrying the creature ever higher and slamming it against an office building. It threw out an arm in an attempt to halt its motion, shattering windows as it dragged along the building. As her response, Sumireko telekinetically tore a half-dozen utility poles from the streets in the area, hurling them at the creature as it finally managed to get a solid grip on the structure.

More screams of panic rose from the surrounding blocks as power failed.

The beast roared in rage as the metal pillars lodged themselves in the building around it. One bounced directly off of its chest, plummeting to earth and cracking the sidewalk. Sumireko levitated herself up to meet it.

“You’re persistent, huh? You’re durable, but that’s about all you've really got going for you.”

The monstrous being leapt from the wrecked upper floors of the office building, latching onto her and trying to squeeze her to death. 

The real Sumireko snapped her fingers.

The beast and the doppelganger were both teleported high into the skies above Hosu. The creature didn’t know what was about to happen. The doppelganger, however, did. Her eyes widened in panic as she realized where she was. “H-hey, me! You can’t seriously-”

The sky erupted in brilliant purple light.

* * *

Gran Torino and Kirishima arrived to find a completely devastated city block. The road was roughly torn up, fragments of asphalt littering the ground around a massive chasm that opened to the sewer system. Every utility pole on the entire street had been roughly torn out. All the windows on a nearby office building had been blown out, there appeared to be severe water damage, and the missing utility poles were embedded in the upper levels of the structure.

“It’s like a bomb went off here, what the hell...” Kirishima muttered in horrified awe at the devastation. This couldn’t have been the work of just one Villain - could it?

Standing in the middle of the desolation was a single, shadowy silhouette, radiating purple energy like a bonfire. _ Whoever _ the silhouette was, they snapped a picture at the exact moment a massive flash of purple lit up the entire sky.

Gran Torino didn’t waste a second, launching himself off the ground with his Quirk. As with his training, Kirishima could barely follow his lightning-fast mentor’s movements. But somehow, impossibly, the Villain blocked, using a street sign for the turnoff for Hosu’s downtown that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The elderly hero was forced to back off as the villain swung it telekinetically with enough force to crack the sidewalk where it struck.

“Not even going to introduce yourself first, old-timer?” She - and yes, it was definitely a girl now that Kirishima could hear her voice - taunted. “Typically it’s polite to give your name to someone you’re about to fight.”

“In that case, shouldn’t you be giving your own name?”

“Now why would I do that? I won’t even be able to call this a decent fight.”

Throwing her arms out, a swarm of zener cards launched from her sleeves and pockets, pursuing Gran Torino through the air as he dodged and weaved. Kirishima rushed to his teacher’s aid, letting One for All flow through his entire body as he had learned the day before. He let loose a massive punch, blasting the air itself towards the Villain as a projectile, just like All Might’s most iconic attacks.

She vanished in a flash of light before it could connect, reappearing right beside him with an iron i-beam floating above one hand before swinging into his hardened form. 

The impact was massive, but nothing his Hardening couldn’t handle. Regardless, the force of the blow threw him several meters down the street. Gran Torino, still trailed by the flying cards, flew in to try to attack only for a duplicate of the Villain to appear to intercept him with the street sign. The cards finally connected as he was blocked, leaving shallow cuts in his legs and back.

“You two are more annoying than dangerous.”

She vanished, her duplicate disappearing a split second later. Kirishima had no idea where she had gone until he noticed Gran Torino streaking into the sky towards her silhouette, still outlined in blazing purple.

“Psychokinesis:”

Computer monitors, fragments of cement, bricks, old boxes - all manner of debris was swept into the sky over Hosu like some bizarre junkyard rapture.

She made a dramatic motion, sweeping her arms out wide.

“_ Illegal Dumping. _”

The junk rained from the sky like hailstones.

* * *

The drive to Mongaza Prison was an uneventful one, though longer than either Uraraka or Shinsou had expected from Gunhead saying the prison was ‘nearby’. She supposed it made sense not to have a prison in the middle of an urban area, though. The moon was starting to rise by the time they were standing in front of the gates.

It was beautiful, really - a brilliant silver disc hanging in the night sky. Just seeing it there made Uraraka almost forget about the world around her, like she could just cast off her human worries and run wild to her heart’s content. On an impulse she couldn’t understand, she opened her mouth to-

Shinsou nudged her, breaking her reverie. Gunhead was talking to a slightly portly man in a carefully pressed suit. He turned to them.

“Uraraka, Shinsou, this is the prison’s warden, Futokane Akimitsu.”

Futokane gave the two trainees a nod. “Always nice to meet aspiring young heroes! Let me be the first to welcome you to our humble little prison here.”

The massive reinforced steel barrier opened enough for them to enter, ponderously closing behind them after they stepped into the prison’s entrance hall.

“Just like the rest of the world, the prison system had to adapt to the rise of Quirks, as I’m sure you know. We’re equipped with a state-of-the-art security barrier. It’s heat-resistant, acid proof, and designed to withstand most strength-enhancement quirks for a minimum of one hour, if not more.”

“Unless it’s someone like All Might,” Gunhead pointed out, “or the individual who breached UA security.”

“...yes, in those cases it would fail,” Futokane admitted. “But I would hope that the Heroes would prevent such an individual from attacking us in the first place.”

Uraraka decided she didn't like him. He was clearly the sort who liked to flaunt their status and deflect all blame from themselves, and worse, his suit smelled extremely strongly of both detergent and wine.

“This here is our night shift gate guard, Bannin. Say hello, won’t you?”

Bannin, a bored-looking clean-shaven man, offered a handshake to Uraraka, which she politely accepted, careful not to make contact with all five fingers.

“Good, firm handshake,” the guard acknowledged. “Your nails could use a bit of a trim, though. They’re a tad sharp.”

“Oh, like you can talk!” Someone called from the staff room behind him. A mulleted blond man poked his head into the doorway. “Bannin’s Quirk makes his fingernails grow twice as fast, and nothing else. He’s always scratching me by accident since he doesn’t clip as often as he should. Don’t listen to him, I’m sure your nails are fine.”

“She’s practically got claws, Goei! Claws!”

“I don’t wanna hear it, you taloned demon!”

“_ Anyways, _” Futokane loudly interrupted, desperate to get the heroes away from the bickering guards to he could continue schmoozing - though for what end goal, Uraraka wasn't sure. It's not like Heroes had much to offer a prison. “We really should get moving. Tartarus won’t wait for its new resident forever, ho ho!”

* * *

Keishu Saburou let out a yawn as he scanned the area.

“Quiet night as usual. You’d think they could just replace us with cameras, eh, Shuei?”

“Nah,” his partner replied. “We’d be out of a job if they did that.”

“Fair enough, we’re a couple of fuckups.”

“Can't believe they even hired us but hey, I’ll take an easy paycheck for staring at an empty yard for 360 days of the year.”

“Why only 360?”

“Well something actually happens about five times a year.”

A third voice, a woman's voice, suddenly cut in. “_ Avici _.”

The watchtower was bathed in immense heat like the inside of a volcano. Keishu heard a sickening crunch from behind him as he staggered to the railing, fumbling for his radio with burned hands. Every part of him was burning - his eyes, his mouth, his lungs - he could barely breathe or speak. He lifted the device to his mouth to try to raise the alarm as footsteps approached him from behind.

“Villain… attack,” he managed to rasp.

The Villain threw him over the tower railing, his burned lips open in a scream he lacked the strength to voice as he hurtled towards the ground.

* * *

“And this here is Saibi, head guard for the maximum security cell block.”

Saibi gave a well-rehearsed salute. “Thank you for coming on short notice, we only got news of this earlier today and they want the prisoner at Tartarus as soon as possible.”

“No problem at all,” Gunhead replied. “There’s enough Heroes on the streets that we can miss patrol for a night, and everything's valuable experience for the interns.”

It was a legal requirement that a Hero accompany every prisoner transfer, to discourage Villain attacks. Though voluntary on the part of the heroes, statistically, at least half of all heroes did transport duty at least once in their careers. More, once you filtered out Underground Heroes.

Saibi began guiding them through the block.

“We don’t actually get many prisoners for the maximum security cells. Certainly not enough to warrant the number of cells we have,” he said, ignoring Futokane's indignant huff. “Moonfish is the only prisoner we’re currently holding down here.”

They stopped in front of a cell at the end of the block with two guards standing watch by the door.

“He’s a real piece of work - deranged and cannibalistic, not a fun combination. We’ve had to keep extra guards on shift outside his cell 24/7 to make sure he doesn’t pull anything. I’ll rest easier once he’s off our hands.”

“What’s his Quirk?” Gunhead asked, peeking through the cell window. Moonfish was securely strapped down to a chair, bound in a tight black straightjacket, and gagged.

“His teeth are razor-sharp, far more durable than normal, and he can extend, retract, and direct them at will. Do _ not _ remove the gag,” Saibi replied.

“Got it. Well, I guess get him ready to move. I assume the convoy should be-”

An alarm started blaring.

* * *

Elis hummed to herself as she mentally scanned the plane she was about to overlap, looking for her chosen tool. Sure, she could just warp herself in and be done with it, but that was _ boring. _ Half the fun of Planar Magic was having every toy in the cosmos at her disposal - she wasn’t going to _ not _ use that.

She spotted what she was after - a Livyatan, happily swimming the vast depths of the Sanzu River. A quick twist of space, and her setup was complete.

A large, spherical bubble of water sprang into being at the prison’s entrance, one very confused Livyatan at the center of it. The steel barrier groaned in protest - it was made to withstand assault, but the massive pressure of the abyssal depths was another thing entirely. It had simply never been designed for such stresses.

* * *

The Livyatan was not having a particularly good time anymore. It had just been out for a quick swim, see if it could grab some prey, when suddenly the depths were filled with blinding light. It let out a roar of rage and pain, whirling around trying to find the aggressor that had attacked it.

Through the haze that was its vision, it saw a massive, dark silhouette.

It charged.

* * *

“This is the gate watch! Front gate under attack by hydrokinetic Villain! The structure is beginning to buckle, we need reinforcements immediately!”

Bannin Ichiro was _ also _ not having a good day.

His shift had started off well enough. Come in, say hi to the boss, say hello to the Heroes here to oversee the prisoner transfer (and make sure their paperwork was legit, of course). Grab a donut from the staff room - the boss always stocked up on the good stuff when a Hero would be visiting, none of the stale stuff the supermarket sold at a discount at the end of the week.

From there, it had been set to be an easy night of watching sitcoms. Maybe he’d have checked in with one of the guys who oversaw the low-risk Quirk cell blocks, see if there were any updates to the prison drama that he was probably a little too invested in.

But, no, life had other plans. The tower guards had called in the alarm, and less than three minutes later, something huge and heavy had begun to press on the door. Judging by the series of leaks the gate had been springing, somehow a massive wall of water was besieging them. 

He looked over at his partner. Poor Goei. The guy was deathly afraid of dying underwater (and sea monsters, as strange a fear as that was). It was why he had taken a position at an inland prison when he probably could have been absurdly well-paid to crew a submarine.

Goei Hachiro was currently running back and forth from the materials stockpile and the door. His Quirk, Reinforce, allowed him to form an airtight seal over openings in a metal surface by simply pressing plates of the same metal over the breach. An excellent quirk for defensive purposes, though its limitations meant that he had never been able to become a Hero.

Goei slapped another panel over a leak, quickly running his hand over it to the familiar green glow of his Quirk at work. The door sprang three more leaks almost before he had even finished.

“This can’t hold much longer!” he shouted to Bannin. “We keep springing more leaks and we’re running out of plating!”

“I’ve already called for help!” Bannin shouted back. “None of the outside teams are responding, we need to hold out until some teams from deeper in the prison come to our aid! We’ve got heroes visiting today, everything will be all-”

Something _ massive _ slammed into the gate, causing it to visibly deform. A three-foot gash formed in the metal, water rushing through it. Some strange, distorted, predatory growl emanated from the other side of the barrier.

Suppressing a sob, Goei sprinted back to the stockpile to grab another reinforcing plate.

Holding his radio in a death grip, Bannin practically screamed into it, “SOMETHING HUGE JUST STRUCK THE GATE, WE WILL BREACH IF WE TAKE ANOTHER HIT LIKE THAT, WE NEED BACKUP _ NOW _!”

As his partner reached the gate again to reinforce it, the massive creature on the other side struck it again, and the gate finally gave way, shearing open and letting the apparent ocean outside rush through.

Goei got the worst of it, being right next to the gate when it breached. The rushing waters slammed him against a stone wall, the immense pressure crushing his bones against the unyielding surface. Bannin could only hope it was at least painless as he was swept away as well.

* * *

It was complete chaos in Hosu. Whatever Villain group was behind the attack, they were clearly numerous and well-prepared - it seemed like the whole city was threatened. Reinforcements were being called in from everywhere nearby, and every Hero based in the city was already out and about, trying to contain the destruction. Kamui Woods had restrained one of the attackers - a thin, inhuman-looking man with a Quirk that allowed him to attack by shoving his bones through his skin - almost immediately upon arrival, but the Villain, seemingly feral, raged and lashed out at whatever it could from its position pinned to the ground.

“Midoriya, try to escort civilians to safety! If you have to, you have full permission to use your Quirk to take down Villains!”

“Got it!”

The task was far easier said than done - the seemingly omnipresent monsters meant that the civilians caught in the open had no obvious place to run. As a result, the fear in the air was nearly overwhelming in its sheer quantity. He tried to focus, to sense anyone who was more afraid, who might be in imminent danger.

Fear spiked further down the street as a creature with four extendable arms began to climb down a building towards the crowd, but Izuku could already see several Heroes jumping in to fight the thing. More concerning was two sources of fear about a block away, apparently isolated.

He ran to them.

* * *

Surprisingly, Bannin wasn’t dead when he regained awareness. In fact, he was somehow on dry land. Propping himself up - every part of him hurt, so he had to do it slowly - he saw that the rushing water had somehow stopped just past the prison's entry hall, forming a curved wall in the air as though it was restrained to a gigantic bubble. And then, like it was a dream, it vanished, leaving only the devastated entry hall and the broken remains of Goei’s body as proof that what had just happened was real.

A woman walked right into the middle of the destruction, looking around her with an air of amusement. Her enormous bat wings, pointed ears, and the red star tattooed under her left eye were all it took for him to know she was no Hero he had ever heard of. His hand crept to his pistol, slowly, carefully to try to avoid having her notice what he was doing.

“You’re a very lucky man,” she said as she approached him, with a tone to her voice that sounded like she was trying not to break out into giggles.

“I’ll say,” he agreed, whipping out his pistol and firing before she could react.

The bullet struck true, tearing straight through her eye and splattering the ground behind her with black blood. It sizzled like bacon on a hot pan as it struck the ground.

She didn’t even break her stride at the injury, her eye rapidly mending itself as she bent down, bringing herself face-to-face with him. Her eyes were purple, with distinctly inhuman slit pupils. 

“Rejoice.”

A demonic claw danced across his throat, opening his veins to the world.

“Your soul will help to fuel Master’s return.”

* * *

Stain had tuned out the panic in the surrounding city - worrying about things other than a fight was a good way to lose. He was an executioner, an arbiter passing judgement on the unworthy. He didn’t _ lose _.

Footsteps at the entrance of the alley heralded another interruption as he was about to end the life of Ingenium’s equally-unworthy sibling. He barely had time to glance in that direction before his hand exploded into pain, the sword flying from his grip and clattering to the ground. He leapt back from his attacker - Midoriya Izuku, the enigma of a student who had managed to earn Shigaraki’s ire despite being, by all indications from his performance in the Sports Festival, quite unremarkable.

Midoriya moved to place himself physically between Stain and Ingenium's brother.

“Attacking others in an alleyway with all the chaos going on… I figured it had to be you, Hero Killer. Sixty percent of your victims have been found in back alleys in less-trafficked areas.”

“So you jumped right in to apprehend me? To seize the glory for yourself? Are you even allowed to be using your Quirk right now, _ trainee _?”

He bent down cautiously, keeping his eyes on his opponent as he retrieved his weapon. Midoriya’s expression remained resolute.

“I jumped in to protect your victims.”

An admirable response, Stain begrudgingly admitted to himself.

“Midoriya, don’t interfere…” the second of his victims, Ingenium's brother, weakly objected. “This has nothing to do with you.”

“He’s right. Leave now, and I’ll let you go without issue. But if we have to fight, let me warn you: _ only the stronger of us will walk away. _”

It was a good, menacing line - one he’d used to scare off unworthy sidekicks dozens of times before, and hopefully put them on the right path. But Izuku didn’t flinch.

“Meddling where you’re not wanted is the true essence of a Hero.”

Stain let himself smile at that - maybe this kid was a worthy hero after all.

The two of them had a tense standoff for a brief moment, before exploding into motion when the sky erupted with light.

Izuku rushed in, clearly hoping to put Stain on the defensive from the start. Not a bad plan - get in close, and the length of his katana would make its use impractical at best. But he didn't realize how acrobatic Stain was.

“Midoriya, don’t let him cut you! He immobilized me and healed himself when he stabbed my foot!”

And there went the advantage of his Quirk being unknown. The healing was a new one, though - had the League’s witch done something to him while he was hallucinating?

It didn’t matter, he had already leapt into the air before the warning had been given. As he spun in mid-air, he brought his katana up, following the spiral of his motion in an upwards swing to attack from an unexpected angle.

The blade turned to rust in his hand as it came into contact with Izuku’s body, crumbling rapidly away as it failed to leave a mark on the trainee hero’s back. The moment he touched down on the ground, it began to liquefy into mud. Thinking quickly, he kicked off of Izuku’s back to launch himself to stable ground, sacrificing a boot in the process as it crumbled into dust upon contact with the boy.

So he had made a breakthrough with his Quirk after the Sports Festival. That was troubling.

Izuku whirled around and let his power flow through the ground again, forming spikes from the earth to try to pen in Stain’s movements.

The Hero Killer was a canny foe, however, and hadn’t enjoyed such a long career by being defeated the first time someone thought to try using area denial. He swept out his remaining booted foot to break the spikes and clear some space to maneuver, frowning when they grew back almost immediately. Izuku was actively maintaining them - he had to break the intern’s concentration somehow.

He lobbed a knife at the prone form of Native.

Predictably, Izuku dove to intercept it. Stain was quick to take advantage of the opening, drawing another knife and stabbing him in the stomach.

Both knives failed to make an impact, blowing away as sand. Izuku immediately slammed Stain in the stomach with an elbow, striking as though the Hero Killer was unarmored. He staggered back from the blow, his costume and padding falling away as water where he had been struck.

He barely noticed cutting his foot open on the spikes - compared to his nose, which he had cut off (and freshly regenerated, somehow), he was used to pain in the rest of his body. Far more concerning to him was his current situation. He was injured, fighting someone his weapons and armor meant nothing to, and was running low on weapons to use if someone else showed up. He needed an opening to flee.

Suddenly, as if responding to him, debris began to rain from the sky. Izuku was forced to use his transformation powers on the walls of the alley, creating shelters to protect Stain’s victims from a downpour of bricks and damaged computer monitors. Wasting no time, the Hero Killer fled the alley, intent on fighting another day.

As he ran into the main street, bursting from the alley entrance, the wooden branches of the hero Kamui Woods clotheslined him.

* * *

The main cell block was a sweltering furnace by the time Shinsou, Gunhead, and Uraraka arrived to reinforce. Shinsou felt slightly guilty - he was the slowest of the trio, he had held them back - but the Villain attacking the prison had apparently been taking her sweet time advancing.

“Ah, more tributes! Welcome to my little slice of Raurava.”

She projected a bizarre air of innocence, a combination of her outfit looking more she was going to a fancy dinner than storming a prison and the fact that she was brandishing an extremely stereotypical-looking magic wand, a thin rod topped with a large five-pointed star. The numerous bodies littering the ground around her, as well as the blood still staining her hands, wingtips, and the points of the wand's star said otherwise, though.

“Hey, you’re Heroes, right?” A prisoner in a nearby cell shouted. “Help us! She’s crazy!”

“Uravity, Mind Blank, spread out and stay on guard!” Gunhead barked as he rushed the Villain.

Elis bared her claws as he approached.

“Come on, man!” The prisoner continued begging, “Let us out first! I don’t wanna die here!”

Gunhead deftly dodged a swing from Elis. “So what would you prefer,” she taunted, “Should I kill you first and let your apprentices watch you die, or do you want to watch _ them _ die?”

He slammed a fist into her completely unguarded face. She barely flinched.

“No banter, really? I had expected at least a ‘stop, evildoer,’ thing. The other humans certainly had their speeches rehearsed.”

“You're assaulting a prison,” he replied as he dodged a swipe from her claws. “I imagine you already know the consequences when I catch you.”

Her latest swipe left her open - he grabbed her arm, slammed a knee into her stomach, and flipped her in a textbook throw. Before she could hit the ground, she transformed into a bat, which flew a short distance away before reverting.

“Fine, have it your way.”

She threw her wand at Shinsou before Gunhead could react, aimed perfectly to strike between his eyes.

Uraraka intercepted it at the last second, the star’s sharpened tip sinking deep into the palm of her open hand as she dove to shield him. She let out a cry of pain as she dropped to the ground.

“Uraraka!”

“Don’t take your eyes off me.”

Momentarily distracted, Gunhead wasn’t able to dodge Elis’s swipe in time. Her vicious claws tore his helmet open and knocked him to the ground with a spray of blood.

She pointed at Uraraka and Shinsou.

“_ Padma. _”

Immediately the oppressive heat was replaced with biting cold, frost nearly immediately forming on the ground around the pair as though it hadn’t just been so hot it was uncomfortable to touch. Strangely, this effect only applied to a small area, about ten meters in diameter - further away, there was no ice and the prisoners still seemed to be in discomfort from heat.

With an open wound, Uraraka suffered the effects of the cold faster - the injury froze and began to crack open in a pattern like a crimson lotus. Shinsou knew he didn't have long before the same happened to him.

Elis approached the duo.

“S-s-s-stop! D-d-d-don’t c-c-come c-c-closer!” Shinsou managed to get out through chattering teeth.

“And what will you do to stop me, morta-”

She stopped dead in her tracks, eyes blank, arms dropping to her sides.

“C-c-cancel y-your a-attack,” he commanded.

Gripped in his Quirk, the magician complied. Though she made no visible movement, the cell block returned to normal temperature immediately, the prisoners cheering from their cells at the Heroes’ victory.

“I’m going straight for good the moment I get out!” Someone shouted.

“Nicely handled, Shinsou. I’m sorry you had to compensate for my failure,” Gunhead said, having staggered to his feet. His head wound was bleeding quite severely, though he seemed unconcerned. “How’s Uraraka?”

“Not good.” Her now-thawing wound looked extremely nasty after the biting cold, and she was feverish and barely responsive.

“Shit. Alright, grab some medical supplies, there should be some at the checkpoint we passed on our way here. I’ll call this in and make sure whatever Heroes they’re sending us are equipped to transport this Villain.”

Shinsou practically sprinted off before Gunhead had even finished his second sentence, tearing through the checkpoint’s medical supplies while mentally checking what he needed. Water, towels, bandages, antiseptic - he grabbed it all and ran back as fast as he could. Gunhead was still on the phone when he got back.

“Well _ find someone _ , we’ve got an extremely dangerous Villain and multiple casualties! Hosu? What the hell does Hosu have to do with- _ OH. _ Yeah, makes sense. Send someone when you can.”

The Battle Hero ended the call and gave an apologetic look at Shinsou. “Seems help’s going to be a while. Something big going down at Hosu, maybe related to our Villain here. The transfer was actually rescheduled because they needed the convoy’s guards to help with the response to that, but we didn’t hear about it for obvious reasons.”

Shinsou was barely listening, focusing instead on applying first aid to Uraraka’s grisly wound. Applying pressure to her forearm to try to slow the bleeding, he began pouring water over the injury. It had apparently bled a tremendous amount - the injury itself didn’t seem nearly as bad as he had feared, probably only half the size he had thought it was when he had watched it rapidly deteriorating under the Villain’s icy cold. He turned away to grab the cloth, to wipe down the area in preparation for applying the antiseptic.

What he saw when he turned back made him pause - her wound was even smaller than before.

Her eyes snapped open all of a sudden, and she staggered to her feet, using her injured right hand to support her as though it was completely unharmed. Shinsou flinched at the sight.

“Uraraka, you’re injured, don’t-”

She _ growled _, glaring at him out of the corner of her eyes. There was something animalistic, predatory, in her eyes. Shocked, he flinched back. Hair was creeping its way up the backs of her hands, what little he could see of them, forming a thick coat of fur.

Faster than he could react, she suddenly lunged at Elis. Gunhead tried to throw his arm out to stop her, but he, too, was too slow - she slashed her sharp fingernails - no, they were proper, vicious, claws, now, Shinsou realized, they had left gouges in the cement floor when she had dragged herself to her feet - across the mind controlled villain’s face. Black blood flew everywhere, hissing as it hit the ground. Shinsou threw an arm up to shield him, wincing as the droplets sizzled on his skin like hot oil.

Elis recovered far faster than anyone Shinsou had ever used his quirk on before, her confusion lingering for only a split second before she realized what had happened. Clutching a hand to her bleeding wound - strange, hadn’t she healed rapidly from everything else? - she began laughing maniacally.

“This is too good! I haven’t seen one of your kind since the middle ages!”

A sadistic smile spread across the demon’s face. “I know just what to do with you.”

“_ Avici. _”

Shinsou braced himself for another temperature-based attack, but nothing came. Uraraka, on the other hand, yowled in pain as her body erupted into flame, taking a blind retaliatory swipe at the magician. The smell of burning hair filled the room. She caught nothing but air, Elis’s body shimmering like a mirage.

“I’ll leave you to quarrel among yourselves. Have fun!”

The demon vanished.

Uraraka howled in animalistic fury, whipping her head around trying to find where the enemy had gone. Wolf ears sprang up from where they had been hidden by her hair, trying to detect any sound that could give her prey away. With a sickening lurch in his stomach, Shinsou realized that the damage from the last attack had left her unable to properly distinguish friend from foe by sight. Locking onto him, she leapt, claws ready to rend flesh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stain is heavily reliant on weapons due to how his Quirk works. Unfortunately for him, this means that Izuku sort of hard-counters him now that the half-tanuki's figured out how to reliably shroud himself in his Ability.
> 
> Zener Cards are a real-life item - white cards with colored symbols on them designed by psychologist Karl Zener in the 1930s to test for ESP in individuals. All findings from experiments involving these cards are useless, since numerous flaws marred the test's design. Poor shuffling could make the order of the cards predictable, indentations on the back from the printing process could allow perceptive individuals to identify the card without seeing its face, in some tests where the cards were face-up but behind a wooden barrier it was possible to see the symbols reflected in the test administrator's glasses, and so on.
> 
> Mongaza prison once again continues Hero Academia's Star Wars location naming scheme like the previously-mentioned Yabin (Yavin) University. In this case it's named for Mon Gazza, a spice-mining planet and one of the locations visited in the podracing game. I wanted to use Oovo IV, the asteroid prison in the same game, but that converts into katakana for "Uubohoa" which is just awful.  
Warden Futokane is named with the characters for "fat" and "money" and all the guards' last names mean "guard", at least according to me plugging "guard" into Jisho.org. The first names of the few guards that get them are "First Son", "Third Son", and "Eighth Son", so sort of a joke name of "Guard One".
> 
> Just as with YuugenMagan, the lack of a concrete backstory for Elis meant I was free to speculate on what she could do, so: Elis's Planar Magic was based on her shimmering teleport animation during her Highly Responsive to Prayers boss fight, as well as a move she uses where she pens you in with a circle and forces you to dodge projectiles while staying within the area. If you leave the circle, you die immediately. With the exception of the Sanzu River, the places she invokes are all Narakas, the hell realms of Buddhism.  
-Avici, one of the 8 Hot Narakas, the "Uninterrupted" Naraka where sufferers spend their incarnation being roasted alive in an immense oven.  
-Raurava, another Hot Naraka, the "Screaming" Naraka where sufferers run around screaming as they seek shelter from the burning ground. Upon finding shelter, they are locked inside as the structure burns around them.  
-Padma, one of the 8 Cold Narakas, the "Lotus" Naraka where the intense cold causes sufferers' skin to crack open like a crimson flower in bloom.
> 
> Livyatan, meanwhile, was an extinct genus of sperm whale, 18 meters in length. It's Touhou canon that the Sanzu River contains multiple extinct species swimming its depths.


	19. Lonesome Werewolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle of Mongaza Prison continues, while two foes dogfight in the skies above Hosu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Standing over the bloody, beaten body of Procrastination_ Ha! I did it! I finished the chapter! This is slightly shorter than originally planned because I originally wanted to have a section from Uraraka's POV as she enters her First-Wolfing-Out Frenzy, and took far, far too long to admit to myself that it wasn't working out and I should really scrap it and write the rest of the chapter.
> 
> Chapter name is the boss theme of Imaizumi Kagerou, third stage boss of Double Dealing Character and Touhou's resident werewolf.

Gunhead slammed into Shinsou, knocking him to the side as the frenzied Uraraka sailed past. The scrape of claws against concrete rang through the cell block as she stopped herself, digging furrows in the ground as she slid to a halt. She looked back and forth between Shinsou and the door heading deeper into the prison before apparently coming to a decision. Growling, she began to pace a wide circle around the duo, watching them warily.

“Shinsou, get behind me,” Gunhead urged. “Those claws she grew gouged up the cement, it’s my responsibility to keep you safe.”

“What's wrong with her?”

“I can’t be sure, but there must have been something on that wand the Villain threw. Dosed it with Trigger or a mutating agent, or something.”

While they had their hushed conversation, Uraraka stopped pacing and turned fully towards them.

“Uraraka,” the Hero warned, “if you can understand me, stay back. I don’t want to hurt you.”

She snarled at him, showing distinctly pointed teeth. When she tensed for another leap, Gunhead let loose a volley of projectiles using his quirk, forcing her to jump to the side to avoid it. Unfortunately, far from a deterrent, the attack only seemed to enrage her. The moment she touched the ground, she lunged forward.

The Battle Hero threw his guard up as she leapt, and her jaws closed around a mouthful of metal as she bit into his armored gauntlets. Grimacing, he wrenched the arm from her grip and swung a fist at her, missing as she leapt back. Shinsou could tell just by looking that the barrels built in for the Hero’s Quirk were too critically damaged to be of use anymore.

He ducked back from a horizontal swipe of her claws, trying vainly to retaliate with a punch. It was a marked difference from sparring - where she had previously been slower than the hero, she now outstripped him in both power and speed, turning what had been a decidedly one-sided fight into a roughly even matchup where Gunhead had to rely on his superior skill. Shinsou didn’t want to see what would happen if the hero slipped up, considering what those claws did to cement.

* * *

Elis shimmered back into reality within the only occupied cell in the Maximum Security wing. Really, she could have done so from the start - she knew her destination and the prison, like nearly every place in the modern world, had no wards set up to stop regular magicians from teleporting in, let alone a skilled planar mage - but then she wouldn’t have gotten to kill people.

“Now then, let's see what you have to say, ‘new recruit’,” she muttered, removing Moonfish's gag.

Immediately, the straightjacketed prisoner lanced his extending teeth directly through her, skewering the demon in no less than seven places. Sizzling blood soaked the door.

“Meat,” the cannibal gasped, his teeth latching onto a portion of Elis's face and tearing it off to deliver to his waiting maw.

He spat it out the second it touched his tongue.

“Rotten.”

“It’s perfectly fine, really,” Elis protested, the right side of her face already regenerating. “Demon flesh just isn’t fit for human consumption.”

“Woman still alive?”

“If the likes of Hakurei couldn't put an end to me,  _ you _ certainly can’t. I should thank you, actually - I was worried the werewolf wound was going to scar.”

She ran a hand over her now blemish-free skin.

“As a show of my gratitude, how about this: I’ll free you, and also tell you about something a ‘friend’ of mine is planning. You'll be able to feast to your heart's content.”

The saliva dripping from the Villain’s mouth was all the answer she needed.

* * *

Bestial claws raked deep into the metal of Gunhead's gauntlets as the battle hero blocked another pounce from Uraraka. The moment they stopped, lodged in the armor, he yanked hard, taking advantage of her stumbling and her brief moment of surprise to throw her to the ground in a textbook demonstration of his Gunhead Martial Arts. He had used the move on the first day of the internship when showing how to handle a knife-user, if Shinsou recalled correctly.

Uraraka snarled angrily as he held her down, snapping at the air with the sharp teeth of a carnivore.

“Shinsou!” he grunted. “Get some cuffs - we can worry about the villains later, we need to make sure Uraraka's okay.”

Before Shinsou could act on the order, Gunhead’s visible eye widened in surprise as the werewolf beneath him forced herself to her feet with inhuman strength, throwing him from her back before he had a chance to adjust his hold. Seizing him by the leg, she flung the now-weightless hero across the cell block, leaving Shinsou alone to stare her down.

“Uraraka,” he said, trying to keep his voice call and his body language nonthreatening, “we’re going to help you. We're on your side, you don't have to be afraid-”

She growled - a response! He activated his quirk and-

Felt the mind control slip off her uselessly.

Now realizing she was in a completely animalistic mindset, Shinsou had barely gotten his guard up before a furry backhand slammed into his raised forearms, lifting him off his feet and throwing him against a cell filled with cowering prisoners. Sheer panic gripped him for a moment as one of the cell’s occupants grabbed him from behind, clamping a hand over his mouth.

“For the love of any gods out there, man, stay down,” the prisoner hissed into his ear. “You can’t fight that, she threw that hero like a ragdoll.”

For a tense moment, Uraraka stood there, seemingly searching for something as she scanned the cell block.

“Please…” the prisoner muttered.

Apparently not finding whatever she was looking for, she stuck her nose into the air, sniffing a few times before catching a scent. 

Dropping onto all fours, Uraraka sprinted off deeper into the prison.

Shinsou immediately whirled on the prisoner, who had released him the moment Uraraka was out of sight.

“What the hell?”

“Hey, kid, show some gratitude, yeah?” The man said, raising his hands to show he had no ill intent. “I put myself at risk for you.”

“...I’m not freeing you, if that's what you mean.”

“Wouldn’t dream of asking it,” the prisoner replied, to the protests of his cellmates. “But if I’m stuck in here, I’d prefer the hero fights be taking place somewhere  _ else _ , you know? I don’t intend to die in a cell.”

Gunhead clasped a hand onto Shinsou's shoulder, causing the prisoner to shrink back.

“We have to go after her.”

It would have been a more assuring statement if the hero wasn’t currently weightless and clinging tightly onto him to prevent himself from drifting away, Shinsou thought.

“Sir, you’re injured and under the effects of her quir-”

“It’s my duty to protect my interns,” he insisted, “and that Villain is likely still in the facility - she was after something.”

“Fine.”

Shinsou began to tug Gunhead in the direction Uraraka had gone, wishing her quirk also negated inertia so he didn't have to spend quite so much effort moving the grown man through the air.

The moment the heroes were out of sight as well, the prisoner produced a lockpick to the cheers of his cellmates.

* * *

“...and we’re planning to make another move soon - Shigaraki specifically sent me to headhunt for recruits. You interested?”

Moonfish made no signs of paying attention to her as he messily devoured a severed arm. The cell’s guards hadn’t realized the threat was inside the cell before it was too late for them.

“It’s fine, you don't have to answer immediately. I’m sure you’re hungry after they locked you up for so long.”

He continued his grisly meal.

“People just don’t understand folks like you or me, you know? We want to live our lives the way we want, not being held down by others. You wanted to eat other people, I wanted to become a demon. Where’d that get me? Well, the church almost burned me at the stake for heresy, but ultimately, _ far _ .  _ Far _ is where it got me."

“...eat more,” he said at last.

“Hm?”

“I want to eat more.”

“That can absolutely be arranged,” Elis replied, grinning widely. “In fact, I have an idea - how do you feel about-”

She was cut off by a howling that echoed through the entire cell block.

“Meat?” the cannibal rasped.

“Yeah, meat. Time to see you at work.”

* * *

Gunhead bounded down the halls as fast as he could, Shinsou clinging to his back. At some point it had occurred to him that he could use Shinsou to weigh himself down, allowing him to benefit from the increased mobility without drifting away from the ground the moment he touched off.

They arrived, rather unsurprisingly, to a battle in progress. Moonfish had been broken out and was currently engaged in a mid-air battle with Uraraka, using elongated teeth as stilts and Spears to fend off the frenzied werewolf, who had figured out how to use her quirk again and was bouncing off the walls as a clawed, furred missile. The bat-winged woman, meanwhile, watched the fight with a general air of disinterest.

Gunhead shuffled Shinsou off his back, taking care not to deposit the student too roughly and warning, “Stay on guard, Moonfish is extremely dangerous and the winged villain has already demonstrated her ability.”

He then launched himself into the air to try to help Uraraka against the cannibalistic convict. Shinsou dodged out of the way of several enamel skewers the villain directed his way - Moonfish was clearly used to fighting against superior numbers.

Elis jeered at the newcomers, taunting, “You came to help your ‘friend’, huh? I wonder if you’d be so eager to help her if you knew what she was!”

“And what is she, exactly?” Shinsou shot back.

Elis just wagged her finger in reply.

One of Moonfish’s skewering teeth hit home, spearing Uraraka through the shoulder and pinning her to the ground, but before he could follow up, Gunhead had already intercepted and managed to land a strong blow to the straightjacketed Villain’s face, spiraling off from the recoil. Snarling viciously, she snapped the tooth off with her claws and tore it from her shoulder, slicing her palm open without displaying any sign of discomfort. The wounds began to close before she had even discarded the fragment.

“Hey, Moonfish! You ugly cannibal!” Shinsou tried.

Alas, the villain continued babbling to himself about blood and flesh and battle - he was clearly too unstable to be paying much attention to what was said during a fight. That left the demon woman, who had already learned how his Quirk worked, as the only real target. Apparently realizing this, she folded her arms behind her head while reclining in midair, showing her utter lack of concern for anything he could do.

A gunshot rang out throughout the cell block, blood exploding from Moonfish’s shoulder. Silence reigned for a moment, its only interruption the click of Head Guard Saibi pulling back the hammer of his revolver. He fired five more times, striking Moonfish with each shot, but never fatally. The injured villain fell to earth, Gunhead already kicking off the ceiling to pursue.

“Right,” Elis declared, “That’s our cue to leave. But before we go...”

She pointed at Uraraka again. Shinsou braced himself, knowing what had happened each time before.

“ _ Sañjīva _ .”

The heat was nowhere near as bad as before, though the floor appeared to have become hot iron. Saibi began to reload his revolver as Elis flew to Moonfish’s downed body and knocked Gunhead away before he could reach the prone villain. Then, all hell broke loose.

Beasts with iron claws and flaming weapons materialized from thin air, looking every bit the part of a traditional demon, horned figures with red skin. They rushed for Uraraka first before more broke off to attack Saibi and Shinsou. Uraraka snarled at the new attackers, tearing into them with tooth and claw, fighting through the myriad cuts they inflicted on her. Saibi, meanwhile, quickly drew a knife and began fighting as best he could, acting more defensively than Uraraka at the cost of not striking back at his attackers nearly as often.

Panicked, Shinsou backed up, trying to find a position where he didn’t have to defend against attack from all sides. As suddenly as they had appeared, the demons attacking him vanished as if they had never been there.

At the same time, Elis and Moonfish shimmered like a mirage in the desert, vanishing entirely. Was that her secret? Was the villain an illusionist who tricked the mind into feeling pain?

Saibi shrieked as a demon tore one of his eyes out. Not an illusion, then. Uraraka, too, was beginning to falter under the assault. Shinsou scanned the cell block, trying to find some explanation for why he had escaped the attack, when he noticed Gunhead trying to get a good foothold on the wall to launch himself into the fray to try to help Uraraka and the beleaguered guard. Completely unharassed by demons.

“Gunhead!”

“What?”

“That Villain’s attack has a range to it! If we’re not in the area, the demons vanish!”

Nodding in acknowledgement, the hero pushed off the wall, diving for Uraraka like a torpedo before landing next to her, scooping her up, and kicking off again in one quick motion. Though she weakly resisted, she displayed nowhere near the vigor she had possessed earlier that night. As the demons that had been attacking her vanished, Shinsou darted into the area again, grabbing onto Saibi’s arm and dragging the guard away from his attackers. At last, there was peace in the cell block.

The guard was in bad shape - he had lost both eyes, one leg at the knee, and had suffered deep cuts to his arms that were bleeding profusely. Shinsou began to tourniquet the wounds as best he was able.

“Fuck, that hurts…” Saibi moaned as Shinsou worked, “sorta wish I had let myself pass out.”

“You’re going to be okay, help should be here soon.”

“Shinsou?”

“What is it, Gunhead?”

“Uraraka’s barely breathing.”

* * *

“I know I told you that you were allowed to use your Quirk if necessary, but taking on the Hero Killer is a little…”

“Should I have just let them die, then?” Izuku asked pointedly.

“No, of course not,” Kamui Woods replied, shaking his head exasperatedly, though the smile was clear in his eyes. “I’m proud of what you’ve done here, really. Though, if I had known it would turn out like this, I probably wouldn’t have given you free reign.”

“Excuse me, excuse me!”

A well-dressed woman ran up. The microphone she held marked her as a reporter for the Hosu Times.

“I was wondering if you had any comment on the absolutely devastating villain attack that’s struck our fine city tonight, and- is that the Hero Killer!?”

Kamui Woods had finished binding Stain in thick vines, carefully ensuring there was no way the notoriously slippery villain could get out of his bindings under his own power. “Yes, I suppose it is.”

“What a tremendous scoop! Would you mind if we interviewed you about the incident? We  _ were _ going to report on the massive battle that’s taken out power to half the city, but Shine News on channel 4 sent a truck over there and it got totalled by raining debris so we were hoping for a better option.”

Izuku looked questioningly at his supervising hero.

“No,” Kamui replied. “You cannot ask us about the incident. You are welcome to consult the official police statement for details once one is made, but at the moment this matter is still under active investigation.”

Not paying particular mind to him, she began reporting on it anyways.

“We come to you live with a shocking development! Just now, during the chaos of the attack on our fair city of Hosu, the notorious criminal known as the ‘Hero Killer’ has been apprehended after an unknown altercation! While none of the individuals involved have chosen to comment on the matter, it’s clear to see from the scene before us that…”

* * *

A massive radio tower began to tip and fall, the metal of its joints protesting vehemently as it fought valiantly against forces it was never designed to take. The airborne, shadowy villain cackled maniacally as it lost its war with gravity.

“Seriously, is that all you’ve got, ‘Heroes’? I thought you were supposed to be the best society’s got, but I’ve fought tougher opponents in my  _ sleep _ !”

Kirishima let the power of One For All flow through him, reinforcing his entire body as the metal structure crashed down on him. Grunting, he shoved the tower’s wreckage aside before beginning to tear a chunk of it off. In the skies above Hosu, Gran Torino continued his duel with the villain.

“You can’t keep this up forever,” he warned. “There’s far more of us than there are of you.”

“You really think you should be telling me that?” She taunted. “You’re slowing down, changing directions less often. Your Quirk runs on your breath, doesn’t it? A drawn out fight like this is the last thing you want, but I’m too good-”

Cutting herself off, she quickly zipped backwards, telekinetically grabbed a large fragment of radio tower as it flew past, and lobbed it at Gran Torino, forcing the elderly hero to dodge.

“-For you to end this quickly.”

He grimaced - she was right, he was tiring out, and with the fight as high in the air as it was, the number of heroes who could intervene was extremely small. Then, he saw a brief glimmer of hope - unmistakable flames down at street level. While anyone who personally knew Endeavor disliked the man, his effectiveness was undeniable. If Gran Torino could just keep the villain’s attention long enough for him to join the fray…

He took a deep breath, already mentally plotting a route through the field of debris the villain was maintaining. If he could bounce the floating pieces of detritus off of each other just right, he might be able to overwhelm her defenses.

* * *

Kirishima was already tearing another chunk off of the radio tower when a gruff voice addressed him.   


“Boy.”

“Hm?” he grunted in reply, not taking his focus off of his work - his teacher needed him.

“Don’t throw that debris.”

“Wha-” he stopped what he was doing to focus on Endeavor in outrage. “My  _ teacher _ is up there! I have to help  _ somehow _ , even if I can’t physically reach him!”

“You’re going about it wrong. Gran Torino is a veteran, he’ll have a plan in mind. But just attacking carelessly will be worse than useless. Attack on my signal. A big punch, like the one you used on my son. The ones that send out shockwaves like All Might does.”

* * *

Gran Torino kicked the debris into motion, launching the cloud into a veritable shower of rubble. As the cloud bounced around, he shot into motion as well, bouncing from point to point and carefully intensifying the attack. At his carefully chosen moment, he shot straight for the villain striking when she used her powers to halt the whirlwind of trash. As he had anticipated, she still managed to whip her cloak out to defend, reinforcing it with her telekinetic abilities. Kicking it was like hitting a battleship’s plating.

“Not a bad attack for someone like you,” she laughed. “I’m starting to see why Suika likes fighting people who’re way below her level. But now you’re in range. Dodge this - Psychokinesis:”

He launched himself away with Jet, trying to dodge the attack he knew was coming.

“ _ Psychexplosion _ .”

_ Shit, _ he thought, as he felt the atmosphere compress itself around him,  _ I’m not far enough. _

The air rebounded, the shockwave hitting him like the blast wave of a bomb. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he managed to force one last spurt out of his quirk before the unmistakable, brilliant orange spiderweb of Endeavor’s Hell Spider technique cut through the air. Fueled by the burst of air from one of Kirishima’s shockwaves, it was far faster than normal, slicing through the shadowy villain before she could react.

Gran Torino fell from the sky, too exhausted to use his quirk anymore. Now, he could only hope someone below was equipped to catch him.

Sumireko’s doppelganger fell to pieces, laughing all the while as she faded into nothingness.

* * *

Kirishima watched in horror as Gran Torino tumbled through the air. Endeavor barking orders into a microphone went unnoticed by the horrified redhead as he realized what he was about to watch - try as he might, nothing he had developed during his time under the hero had been able to compete with the old man’s aerial mobility. Saving him was beyond his power.

Nevertheless, he sprinted desperately for the falling hero, hoping against hope that by some miracle he could arrive in time to save him. Only a block away from the landing site, his stomach gave a sickening lurch as he heard a loud, wet thump.

Dreading what he’d find, he ran to the impact.

Gran Torino lay faceup and unconscious on a massive pile of crumpled cardboard boxes, broken and bloodied but still clearly breathing. Crushed Taiyaki surrounded the entire mess. As medics arrived to the scene and began shouting instructions, Kirishima allowed himself to cry tears of relief.

* * *

“They’re both in stable condition,” the doctor confirmed, “But Saibi’s injuries are severe - he’ll likely never see again, and he’ll have nerve damage in his arms.”

“And Uraraka?” Gunhead asked.

“We’re… not sure what’s wrong with her, really,” he admitted. “The wolf ears she’s got are thoroughly attached - if you hadn’t mentioned otherwise we’d have assumed they were always there - and her claws also simply seem to have always been that way. You’re sure she didn’t have some kind of hidden mutation Quirk? Something she might have kept secret just because she’s sensitive about it?”

Shinsou shook his head firmly. “I saw her in the loser’s lounge at the Sports Festival, there was nothing like this.”

“Hmmm. Well, outside of that, she’s perfectly healthy. Not an injury on her when we looked at her. We have no idea why her breathing is so weak, or why she’s not responding to any stimuli - it’s like her body’s just giving up on her.”

“How long do we have to save her?” Gunhead asked, pain clear in his voice.

The doctor just gave him a look of hopelessness. “I don’t know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Elis and Moonfish's antics make me slightly doubt my "Canon-typical violence" tag at times, but then I remember Shigaraki and Overhaul both straight-up mulched people during the negotiation failure at the start of the Yakuza arc and realize that I've still got a chunk of leeway.
> 
> Sañjīva, the "Reviving" Naraka, is the first of the Hot Narakas, a place where the inhabitants are born in a state of fear and misery. The moment they fear being harmed by others, hellish guards appear to attack them, and upon falling unconscious, the injured is instead fully healed and the attack begins anew.  
The great irony of this, of course, is that if Shinsou had left guard Saibi in there for a bit longer he would've come out with only very minor injuries.
> 
> It's not really relevant, but Warden Futokane's Quirk lets him digest gold with no other benefit, while Saibi is Quirkless.


	20. Blue Sea of 53 Minutes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While various parties unwind from the Hosu Incident and the Attack on Mongaza Prison, Tokoyami finally visits Itsukushima.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I, uh, didn't pay attention to when this broke 5.5k hits. Whoops. And I'll probably end up commenting on this hitting 6k hits by next chapter, at this rate. Well, success is nothing to complain about.
> 
> I also hit 69 public bookmarks (and dipped below it briefly, then hit it again)! A very nice milestone.
> 
> One of the songs from the Music CD "Retrospective 53 Minutes," chosen for how its peaceful tune works nicely for a chapter with relatively little action happening as a wind-down from Hosu and Mongaza, with absolutely no ulterior motive behind its selection whatsoever.

The attack at Mongaza Prison ended Shinsou’s internship early, even though he hadn’t been badly injured. Gunhead had collapsed after hearing Uraraka’s condition, the injuries from the fight finally catching up to him. Apparently the hero had broken several ribs on top of a large amount of blood loss, but powered through for the sake of his interns.

Regardless, without a supervising Hero, Shinsou was now left with some free time until UA resumed. Nothing better to do, he found himself wandering the streets of Musutafu on a Friday, looking for something interesting to take his mind off the disastrous events earlier that week.

Passing by Dantuin Station, he noticed a gathered mob of protesters. Strange - he didn’t know of any major scandals, so it had to be something new. From the signs, they were protesting some hero lying about their actions, but they didn’t seem to be camped outside an agency or anything.

“They’re protesting the retired hero Afterburner,” a familiar voice told him. Turning, he realized that Izuku and Kamui Woods were standing there watching the protest. Presumably, the green-haired boy’s internship had gone considerably smoother.

“Afterburner?”

“He retired about a year ago after a fight in Saitama prefecture that destroyed half the city. Didn’t take long for people to realize Hosu’s ‘mystery villain’ matches the one he claims to have defeated almost exactly and that he lied about defeating them back then. This protest started around lunch and more people have been trickling in slowly. The police wanted us on deck just to ensure things stayed civil.”

It made sense - heroic presence at protests had been an established fact since the chaos that surrounded the rise of Quirks, when it had quickly become clear how powerful some could be. Especially if Afterburner had lied about taking down a villain that had now caused severe damage once again, oversight by heroes was a definite requirement to make sure things didn't get ugly.

“Honestly, I’m surprised this sort of thing doesn't happen very often.”

“It does, actually - about 10% of low-ranking heroes have submitted erroneous reports of stopping villains,” Izuku replied, ever the source of heroics trivia. “The thing is that usually it’s minor stuff, like claiming someone was engaged in villainy when they weren’t, or relatively harmless lies like claiming they were held up chasing a nonexistent villain to avoid admitting they slept through their alarm. This is the first case I’ve heard of where someone tried to claim credit for a takedown that wasn’t theirs, and even more notable because Afterburner got catapulted up to rank 110 in the last hero ranking before he retired.”

Shinsou shook his head. "He lied for fame? What's the point?”

Izuku shrugged. “Some people just want to bask in the limelight. I know you don’t really want that, but there are some people out there who are just in heroics for the publicity. The Hero Killer somehow twisted himself into thinking he was doing the right thing hunting those types down.”

“Oh yeah, you took that guy down, didn't you? The paper said your supervising hero authorized you to help during the attack.”

“It- it was nothing, really! I just got lucky that my quirk countered his.”

“Still better than we did. That villain just walked right over us like we weren’t there. Considering the shape Gunhead was left in, it might have been better if we _ hadn’t _been there. She broke out Moonfish anyways, after all.”

Izuku looked at him in horror. “You were at Mongaza…?” He realized.

Shinsou slowly nodded.

“Is… is Uraraka okay?”

Right, he probably knew she was with Gunhead.

“She’s in bad shape and the doctors don't know what's wrong with her. She blocked an attack for me before growing wolf ears and claws and just going completely berserk. After the villain escaped she collapsed and hasn't responded to anything since.”

A brief flash of confusion crossed Izuku's face before it lit up like he had suddenly realized something.

“What’s that look for?”

“I, um, just realized there might be a connection between the Mongaza attack and Hosu. Where is she? I'd like to visit, when I have time.”

Shinsou raised an eyebrow skeptically. “She’s unresponsive.”

“She’s my _ friend. _”

He relented. “Ibana Hospital. I don't think they let you in to see patients unless you’re related, though.”

The look on Izuku's face got the boy’s gratitude across better than any words could.

* * *

_ Nightmare in Hosu _, read the bold headline of the newspaper that Shigaraki slammed down on the table.

“Look at this,” he growled.

Kurogiri calmly picked up the paper, unfolding it. Below the article, smaller headlines advertised, “_ Mongaza Prison breached by unidentified intruder - Page 3 _ ”, “ _ Hero Killer's reign of terror ended by Hero Student - Page 7 _ ”, and “ _ Doomsday cult enjoys rapid rise in membership - page 11 _”.

All in all, not a bad spread of articles.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“The _ problem _,” he ground out through gritted teeth, “is that we aren’t getting the credit for anything! That ‘unknown villain’ at Hosu dominates the narrative, Stain’s arrest grabbed the rest of the media attention, they haven’t tied us to the prison break, and that cult grabbed the last piece of front-page real estate!”

“Oh, that one’s mine,” Elis called from the sofa, YuugenMagan’s eyes shut and slumbering beside her. “I tipped them off about the Hosu attack and now they’re riding a surge in recruitment thanks to my figurehead’s ‘prophetic visions’ coming true.”

You could practically see steam rising from Shigaraki as the lanky villain fumed over this revelation. Kurogiri quickly placed a glass on the counter next to him, which was promptly disintegrated, sparing anything more valuable from the immature Villain’s wrath.

“You _ stole _ our attention with that _ side project _?”

“Miss Elis,” Kurogiri cut in, “I had been under the impression you were a mere member of this ‘Church of the Winged Void’. I realize that your relationship with us is a mutually beneficial alliance rather than direct membership in the League, but if you truly are at the organization’s head, it would have been useful for us to know sooner. The USJ, for instance.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” she replied immediately. “We didn’t have many members at the time, sending them would have just wiped the group out before it could ramp up recruitment. I contributed what I felt was necessary to the attack, and your ‘sensei’ agreed it was a fair contribution.”

She leaned back on the sofa with a huff. “Don't go trying to blame me for your failures.”

Kurogiri raised an eyebrow “And the injuries suffered by Moonfish during your retrieval?”

“Were treatable by you and, as you yourself noted, will be healed well before you need him.”

Shigaraki straightened the paper, looking over the front-page article more closely. “Fine. We’re still in good shape. Stain and this unknown did us a favor, actually. Stain’s fans will want revenge - we just need to position ourselves to recruit them.”

Kurogiri nodded. “I’ll get in touch with Giran.”

* * *

Reiko bent over and plucked a brilliant, luminous orange mushroom off of a tree root, popping it into her mouth as she continued searching the forest of magic. It was about the temperature of freshly brewed tea and made her vision swim, but it also made sources of magic give off a faint light for about an hour after consumption. She doubted this would lead anywhere.

After about fifteen minutes, she was proven wrong - a scrap of purple cloth, standing out against the glowing backdrop of a tree root like a drop of ink on fresh parchment. She snatched it up with her quirk immediately, channeling magic through her to purge the mushroom’s effects now that they were no longer needed. While the fabric’s presence boded poorly for Mineta’s survival, there was one way she could be certain.

Recalling the instructions Seiga had given her years ago, Reiko turned to a nearby tree and focused the internal energies of yin and yang to reach out to the crevices in the bark, linking them to the hidden realm her master called home. She stepped through the glowing gateway, passing through with ease even though the aperture seemed impossibly small for a human.

The brilliance of Senkai was that it was a secret realm created through hermit arts, created by the genius of one Toyosatomimi no Miko and accessible from anywhere in Gensokyo - provided one knew the trick, of course.

As expected, Reiko arrived directly within the courtyard of the splendid structure known as the Divine Spirit Mausoleum, her appearance idly noted by the practicing Taoist apprentices. She floated directly towards the side chamber that Seiga dwelt in, sending novices scattering at her advance - nobody wanted to deal with the student of the Wicked Hermit.

Even if, Reiko reflected to herself with a snicker, their own teacher Miko was also a former apprentice of Seiga’s.

She threw the chamber door open with her mind, floating inside. “Seiga, I need you to- what in the hells are you doing?”

Seiga didn’t even look up from the muscular body she was in the process of scribing spells all over. It was a nightmarishly complex work - Reiko could spot runes to imbue the subject with speed, strength, and regeneration, as well as something apparently meant to bleed off energy from incoming attacks.

“Thought experiment,” the Wicked Hermit replied. Mercifully, she was back to her normal outfit, consisting of a teal dress with floral print and a white vest decorated with blue patterns. A translucent white cloth floated behind her, and Reiko had always suspected it was enchanted to do so entirely for aesthetic purposes.

“What- you know what, doesn’t matter. I need you to summon up a ghost for me.”

She held out the scrap of fabric. Seiga snatched it with her free hand while continuing to scribe spells with the other.

“Anything in particular for me to be looking for? You know how humans like to pass clothing down.”

“Young man, short, purple hair. Should be around 14 or 15 years old. I have a file on him if you need it.”

She waved the folder away, quickly chanting an invocation while continuing her scribing work. “No need, I can see him. He’s still got a strong presence, I don’t think that lazy shinigami’s gotten to work yet. You wanted to speak with him?”

Reiko thought for a moment, then remembered the comments the file had on his personality and shuddered. “No need, I just wanted confirmation he was dead.”

“Glad I could be of use.” Seiga finished scribing her runes and looked over the corpse appraisingly. “You think this thing could fight an oni?”

“Fight? Sure. Win? Absolutely no chance. I’d be surprised if it lasted more than twenty seconds.”

“That’s not bad, actually. Maybe if I got a bunch more…”

“_ No, _ master.”

* * *

Higashifukami High School was a humble setting, especially when compared to UA. Izuku supposed it only made sense, since Higashifukami was a normal high school and not a heroics school. Though it was closed for the weekend, the school was the only lead he had on Sumireko’s location - the only school remotely nearby with that distinctive purple plaid uniform. He needed to find a student registry and see if she was on it.

He reached for the sheaf of papers at his side - a component of his hero costume he tended to keep on him even when not in uniform, due to its usefulness - trying to work up the resolve to make a ladder and jump the wall to trespass onto school grounds.

“If you’re thinking of investigating the Seven Mysteries, I can tell you they’re all depressingly mundane and have boring explanations.”

He whirled to face the familiar voice. Sumireko, clad in the usual purple plaid outfit, had snuck up right behind him. Somewhat strangely, she wasn’t wearing her cape or hat.

“Like the disappearing step on the stairwell to the second floor, for instance - there’s just a lot of idiots who can’t count. I’ve checked those stairways every weekend for the year and a half I’ve gone here and the amount never changes. There’s twenty of them, both up and down. And the wall with a face is just because that idiot Ishikao head-butted it for 200 yen and left an imprint.” She shook a fist at the sky, yelling at nobody in particular, “We had an assembly about this, people! They told us not to do things like that! So yeah, sorry, nothing occult here.”

“I was actually looking for you, Miss Usami.”

“Oh, because I’m the seventh mystery, the ‘Girl who sleeps through every class but still gets straight As’? I’m just smart and already know the courses,” she replied, apparently playing dumb.

“Wha… no, I was looking for you because I need help with something about Genso-”

She slapped a hand over his mouth, looking up and down the street.

“Not here. I think I know what’s happened here, but we need to go somewhere more private to talk.”

* * *

Whatever was up with Sumireko, she still had her love of the occult, as evidenced by the shop she led him to, a small bookstore labeled 'the Spookstore' that seemed to only sell books about ghosts. She led him through a winding maze of shelves - he boggled at how they seemed to have such a large inventory despite their extremely narrow theme - before finally coming to a halt at a small junction. The entrance was tucked firmly out of sight, and the mass of literature would doubtlessly absorb any sound before it went far.

“Alright,” she started, “let me guess: you want to know what happened with the cape and hat.”

“I… what?” It _ was _ a question he had, but definitely not the main one he had.

Like why she was still playing dumb, for instance.

“The original Sumireko is the one with the cape, she didn't wear it when she created me because the faculty gets on our case when she wears it.”

“Created? What are you _ talking _ about, you helped me when I almost died from lack of belief! Mamizou asked you to watch over me because I’m her son, remember?”

A look of supreme annoyance crossed her face. “And she didn’t tell you about me? Rude. She’s been working on the youkai thing herself, using the urban legend of doppelgangers to give herself stronger powers and hopefully make a full transition. I'm a copy she made to go to school while she does other things.”

Izuku took a moment to let the revelation sink in. “Wait, so will you even get the powers if she gains new ones?”

The clone shrugged. “I might? That was the last big development we really had powerwise, and ultimately it's like uploading your brain in sci-fi, you know? As long as one instance of you exists, you still do.”

Izuku was struck mute by her casual dismissal of philosophical questions of self.

She whipped out her smartphone, ignoring his stunned silence. “Anyways, let me see if I can find the original for you.”

* * *

Got 99 Sumirekos but a Witch ain’t one. No but seriously it’s sorta weird we haven’t gotten on that whole ‘magic’ thing yet. 

_ Schoolmereko: _ yo  
_ Schoolmereko: _ @SumirekOG  
_ Schoolmereko: _ got someone here looking for you

_ RealSumireko: _ I haven’t seen her online lately.

_ SumirekoTimesTwo: _ didn't she block you after you bodyjacked her for a whole month last summer?

_ RealSumireko: _ Oh yeah.  
_ RealSumireko: _ Good times.

_ SchrodingersSumireko: _ speaking of, how’s the fallout from that going?

_ RealSumireko: _ Ugh, don’t get me started. Fucking Doremy hasn’t let me or @TheSchoolNightmare out of her sight ever since.

_ TheSchoolNightmare: _ why the fuck did you ping me  
_ TheSchoolNightmare: _ i hate you all so much  
_ TheSchoolNightmare: _ do you know what it does to someone?  
_ TheSchoolNightmare: _ to know youre a clone of a clone?  
_ TheSchoolNightmare: _ im the dream world version of a doppelganger copy of the original  
_ TheSchoolNightmare: _ and not even one of the cool doppelganger copies like the one we have who managed to score an internship researching the pyramids  
_ TheSchoolNightmare: _no, im a copy of the doppelganger who exists to make sure we all have an alibi for when OG finally fucks up and gets identified while blowing up half a fucking city

_ Schoolmereko: _ hey

_ SumirekOnryo: _ This is why nobody likes you, doppelganger-dream-Sumireko.

_ TheSchoolNightmare: _ oh, so now the crazy one who lives in a cave on the side of mt fuji and studies ghostville is going to criticize me?

_ SumirekOnryo: _ It’s called Aokigahara and it's a notable hotspot of spectral activity.

_ TheSchoolNightmare: _ DID I FUCKING ASK, BITCH  
_ TheSchoolNightmare: _ @everyone  
_ TheSchoolNightmare: _ good luck finding OG now, assholes

_ Several Sumirekos are typing… _

* * *

‘Schoolmereko’ groaned. “Sorry, this is going to take a while.”

Izuku raised an eyebrow. “‘RealSumireko’ isn't the real one?”

“I don't know why she’s even still using that name - she’s the Dream World version of the original, she got powered up a while back and was able to temporarily steal the original body. Real mess.”

“How many of you are there?”

“I stopped keeping track a while ago. We started with OG, and I guess everyone has something called a ‘Dream Soul’ that's sorta but not really them too so I guess that means we really started with two?”

She shrugged. “But once we found Gensokyo things got weird - that whole mess ended up giving us something called ‘Dream Fantasy Disorder’ where we go there in our dreams - without outside aid, by the way, you don’t have it, your amulet acts as a catalyst to force the effect - and that's technically a sort of thoughtform ‘echo’ of us that's both human and youkai while being neither, so she’s number three - the one using ‘SchrodingersSumireko’ - and from there things got even crazier because OG developed her doppelganger powers, creating a Sumireko entirely off the doppelganger myth, and she’s got her _ own _ Dream Soul and meanwhile OG Dream Sumireko _ also _ created a doppelganger of her own, and this isn’t even counting the fact that we can manually create them at will? The occult forums are starting to wonder about us popping up doing research all over the place, even if they think we just have a cloning quirk. We should probably look into wigs or colored contacts or something.”

Izuku took a moment to parse the ridiculous series of events. “Wait, so if ‘SchrodingersSumireko’ is the original when she’s dreaming, doesn’t that mean she was online and responding to you in the chat?”

The Sumireko doppelganger paused for a moment, mouth opening and closing as she tried and failed to think of a reply. She then stood up, slowly and deliberately, and slammed her forehead into the side of the bookshelf.

* * *

Komuso gave Tokoyami a wave as the bird-headed boy moved off to explore the island, turning to make an offering to the main shrine after doing so. He had to admit, his internship under the man had been far more beneficial than he had ever dreamt it would be. However, he was now at his real goal for the week - Itsukushima.

"Pretty nice place," Dark Shadow commented from his position in Tokoyami's cloak. "I can see why they felt like enshrining it."

The boy absent-mindedly mumbled an agreement as he rifled through his pockets for his notes. Now that he was on the island, his ancestor's writings were the only real guide he had.

_ Minazuki 8 - Chisaki is dead. Those damn fool villagers didn't tell the whole story, all right. Their 'spirit' was a youkai, or perhaps even a god of the land. We were not prepared to fight him. _

_ It started well enough - the crossing was uneventful and we found his footprints on the beach easily enough. Once we actually confronted him, that was when the trouble started. Whatever he was, he wore the skin of a man, his inhuman nature betrayed only by piercing golden eyes. He called himself the ‘heavenly sea’ and warned us to leave, saying he didn’t want to taint the island with our blood. Chisaki declined and rushed the monster with his yari, shouting his name like the fool he was. _

Tokoyami had read the story again and again - he knew how it ended. He wasn’t going to find his objective just standing around the shrine itself. Checking to make sure he wasn’t followed, he slunk off towards the edge of the grounds.

“You’re clear,” Dark Shadow quietly informed him.

Nodding faintly, he slipped off the shrine grounds and onto the white sand beach with a whispered thanks.

_ The monster’s touch could warp the world around it - one brief instant of contact and Chisaki's weapon was nothing more than scrap at his feet. A hand placed on the ground, and the earth itself twisted and rose against us, forcing my companion to scramble for cover. Curiously, the demon didn’t use this power on Chisaki himself - whether he was either unwilling or unable to do so, I don't know. I refuse to contemplate the motivations of inhuman beasts. _

_ I was lucky. I was further away from the beast and could avoid the worst of the attack - I got away with only a deep wound on my upper arm. Chisaki was too close to dodge. He took a spire of rock directly to the stomach, tearing it open and spilling his guts across the sand. The monster shoved his dying body into the sea with the earth at his command and decried our actions in ruining his ‘sanctuary’ as though he hadn’t just killed a good man. He told me to leave Itsukushima, that I should be grateful that he saw fit to spare me. _

_ Like I’d just leave after he killed the man I loved. _

He scanned the beach for any sign he could use to continue his search. It was far easier said than done - the island had been the site of a battle during the Sengoku period, ensuring that any obvious traces of his ancestor’s confrontation had been wiped out. If anything was left, it would be extremely minor, the sort of thing that would be overlooked and spared.

There, at the treeline - what appeared to be a tree root at first glance was instead a small, arching tendril of rock. Inconspicuous and unnoteworthy to most, with the context his ancestor’s journal provided him, it might as well have been a neon sign.

_ I hauled Chisaki’s body out of the water. He deserved a proper burial, though I could not give him one at the time. I can only thank the myriad kami that I live to do so now. Pursuing his killed into the forest was an easy enough task - in his arrogance, he made no effort to hide his trail. Finally catching him by a cave deep in the woods, I attacked. The purification charms did nothing (note to self: kill that scam artist for selling them to me), ruining my ambush. _

_ He had no weapon but the earth itself, and fought like the demon he was. Sure of my defeat, I resigned myself to joining Chisaki in the next life for my futile act of revenge. But somehow, miraculously, I gained the advantage. Thinking back on the fight, the key must have been blood - my blood, dripping from my wounds, coated my blade, and Chisaki's blood had likewise soaked into my clothes. The demon would not approach me, and drew back from swings that were nowhere near him. _

As he made his way into the forest, he found himself growing steadily more unnerved. It took a moment for him to realize _ why _. It was deathly silent. No birds chirped, no breeze stirred the leaves of the trees around him, no brooks babbled through the greenery to cut through the silence with the burbling of running water. Even the sound of the ocean’s crashing waves had faded away behind him.

“This place gives me the creeps, Fumi,” Dark Shadow unhelpfully supplied.

At last he arrived at his destination - a clearing, nearly unremarkable if not for the cave in the mountainside.

_ I was able to drive the demon back into his cave, but I would go no further - the earth was his weapon, to surround myself with it was suicidal at best. Instead I prayed to all the gods of Takamagahara, that I might be able to avenge my dear friend. I imagine Omoikane must have smiled upon me, for I recalled the binding spell used to restrain the traitor monk so she could be cast into Makai. I sealed the demon away in that cave, to be frozen in time until I can find someone strong enough to kill him for good. _

The cave mouth was an ominous gate, the inky darkness within sending chills down his spine. He had long imagined what he would find when he located it - a shimmering, golden field of energy, keeping an ancient evil at bay? Perhaps a solid wall of stone, entombing her nemesis within the earth itself? But he had never expected it to be so… foreboding.

His gaze ran along the edge of the cave. A series of runes, carved into the rock, ringed the entire mouth, forming a semicircle he could only assume was meant to bind whatever was within. Dark Shadow abruptly reared up and placed himself between Tokoyami and the cave.

“Fumi,” the Quirk tersely warned, “The keystone.”

Though the stone opening was no man made structure, the meaning was clear - the central rune on the top, where an arch’s keystone would be. In contrast to the aged, eroding shapes of all the others, it seemed fresh as the day it was carved.

And, Tokoyami realized with a start, it was _ unfinished _. Looking at it again, it was clear that it paused midway through, an arcing curve stopping unnaturally upon intersecting the main body of the arcane symbol rather than carrying through. There was no way whatever barrier it was meant to maintain was functional.

He mentally readied himself for what he was about to do. He had read his ancestor’s diary countless times, he knew every entry by heart. Her duel with the Heavenly Sea had been her greatest failure.

She had never found someone to finish what she started.

He strode into the cave.

_ Minazuki 11 - I buried Chisaki in a secluded grove. He always did like to watch the cherry blossoms. I hope he's happy, wherever he is. _

* * *

“Nue,” Izuku called out to the empty graveyard, “I need your help.”

The gravestone nearest him laughed, becoming the familiar form of the chimeric youkai the moment he blinked. “So Mamizou’s kid finally wants to meet his dear old aunt, huh?”

“You’re… not related to Mamizou.”

“Might as well be, with all the stuff we got up to back in the day!” Nue laughed. “But really, what are you after, that you didn’t think you could go to ol’ Futatsuiwa?”

He took a deep breath before admitting, “I need to break into a hospital, and I need to do it without being identified. Also, do you know how to get someone into Gensokyo?”

A cheshire grin spread across the youkai’s face. “I have no idea what a hospital is.”

“It’s-”

“It’s not important is what it is! You’re finally embracing the true character of a youkai and want to pull one over on humans, so I’m in! I’ll give you however many Seeds of Unknown Form you need.”

“And as for getting yer little abductee to Gensokyo,” added Mamizou, making Izuku jump as he realized she had been there the whole time, “I’ll handle that. Just tell me where to wait.”

She blew smoke into the air. “And of course I’m helping you with this - yer my son, what sort of parent would I be if I didn’t support you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically, within canon there's only Original Sumireko, Dream Sumireko, Doppelganger Myth Sumireko, and Thoughtform Echo Sumireko. However, each of those demonstrates the ability to summon doppelgangers in battle, leading to the battle that involved six Sumirekos, and as a result the final tally of Sumirekos balloons up to eight with an asterisk (as the longevity of the combat doppelgangers when Spell Card Rules aren't in play is unclear).


	21. Corridor Stretching to Eternity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku races to save Uraraka.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6k hits! Just as expected, I hit that quickly since I only noticed I had broken 5.5k when I had like a hundred to go before 6k. I'm surprised how fast they roll in now, though.
> 
> Long chapter this time, since I couldn't find a good spot to break it up due to the nature of the one particularly massive scene in it.
> 
> Chapter is named for the Eientei stage theme from Touhou 17.5, Antinomy of Common Flowers.

Willing his nerves to stay under control, Izuku walked confidently through the doors of Ibana Hospital. He had dressed up for the occasion, wearing a suit rather than a school uniform or his usual casual t-shirts, as an extra precaution against being identified - few people would see someone wearing a suit and think to themselves ‘Hero student’, and their minds would then fill in the details of whoever they assumed would be wearing a suit while visiting a hospital, courtesy of Nue’s Ability.

He couldn’t just walk straight up to the front desk and ask to visit Uraraka - the receptionist would undoubtedly ask for identification. Instead, he headed directly for the bathroom. Once inside, he transformed the suit he was wearing into a doctor’s outfit, hoping nobody would notice that the businessman didn’t leave the bathroom. The receptionist gave him a wave as he strode towards the elevator with his new disguise, but nothing else.

Once he arrived at Uraraka’s floor, he made for her room, quickly double-checking the room number he had noted on his phone. Once he stood in front of the door, he looked up and down the corridor to make sure he was alone, knocked on the door to check if anyone was inside, then cautiously eased the door open and slipped inside.

She lay on a hospital bed, intubated to allow intake of food and prevent her from starving to death while unconscious. While he certainly wished he could simply sit there until the belief from his amulet revived her, Izuku knew from experience that he had been out for the better part of a day when he had nearly faded away, and that had been with the immediate intervention of someone experienced in the matter. It wasn’t an option for Uraraka, not when hospital staff could show up at any moment to eject him from the premises and doom her. She needed to be moved,  _ now _ .

Carefully, he snaked the feeding tube out of her throat, moving it as carefully as he could. He dared not use his Ability to ease the process - he had no idea what effects transforming an item while it was in someone’s body might have, and while Uraraka was apparently a werewolf now and thus far more resilient than a standard human, he was still unwilling to risk it. Once it was out, he moved to the next step of his plan.

Withdrawing a small pouch from his pocket, he opened it, allowing a white, ethereal snake to poke its head out - a Seed of Unknown Form, the strange medium by which Nue’s Ability applied its effect. The serpentine entity licked at the air, sniffing around for its target before shooting from the bag, streaking through the air towards Uraraka like a rocket. Izuku’s heart seized for a moment as it coiled around her neck, and he reached out to yank it away before it suddenly sank into her skin, fading away as though it was never there.

With the Seed having hopefully done its job (since he knew it was Uraraka, he couldn’t see any effect it had), Izuku grabbed a blanket and tossed it over Uraraka, to hopefully make her appear to be a corpse in transit. If someone stopped him to check his cargo, he just had to bluff and trust that Nue’s Ability was in effect.

He took a deep breath as he wheeled Uraraka's bed out of her room. 

“Dr. Hikari?” A voice called.

Izuku quickened his pace slightly.

“Dr. Hikari!” A hand grasped his shoulder, leaving him with no choice but to turn to the speaker. He pressed the elevator button behind him as he did so.

He was faced with a young man, clean-shaven and seemingly fresh out of medical school, with nearly combed brown hair. “I thought that was you - I’d recognize that slouch and slightly-too-big coat anywhere! I thought you took the day off?”

“I was going to,” Izuku replied, hoping his nervousness didn't show through, “but there was still some paperwork I needed to do, and one thing led to another - you know how it is.”

“Can’t say I do, you old workaholic! You know I value my personal time too highly for that. What’s with the patient anyways?”

The elevator arrived, and Izuku pushed Uraraka into it. To his annoyance, the other doctor followed.

“He passed away from injuries overnight,” Izuku replied, careful to use ‘he’ so the Seed of Unknown Form active on him would add another layer to the disguise if needed. “I’m bringing the body to the morgue.”

His heart stopped as the doctor lifted the sheet from Uraraka's face to take a peek under it. “Urgh, I’m honestly surprised this guy lasted long enough for us to get him checked in. Half his face is gone.”

At that precise moment, the unconscious Uraraka let out a faint moan and shifted slightly.

The doctor paled, a look of horror on his face. “Oh dear gods, the poor stiff’s still alive. Dr. Hikari, you need to go back and update his clinical notes, I’ll take him to the ER. Do you know what his quirk is?”

Izuku shook his head mutely, terror showing on his face as the plan began to unravel before his eyes, desperately trying to think of some way to get out of this without needing to choke out a medical professional in a hospital elevator.

The elevator stopped short of the basement, doors opening to let in passengers on the ground floor. A man and a woman, both brown-haired, stepped into the elevator. They were intensely worried, enough that they seemed not to notice Izuku and the doctor at first.

The doctor’s face lit up. “Mr. and Mrs. Uraraka! A pleasure to see you again. Have you met Dr. Hikari? Dr. Hikari, these are the Urarakas, their daughter is currently in my care.”

Izuku politely gave a slight bow, as much to introduce himself as it was to try to obscure his facial expression.

The man finally seemed to notice the pair. “Oh, Dr. Seijirou! Sorry, I was a bit preoccupied.”

“It’s understandable, considering what you’ve had to go through. I hope I can bring you some good news soon.”

They stood awkwardly in the elevator for a few more moments before it arrived at the basement, door opening to allow Izuku out. Seijirou stopped him as he began to exit.

“Ah, Dr. Hikari, you really should update the patient’s status. I can handle taking them from here.”

Uraraka’s father cleared his throat politely. “Actually, Dr. Seijirou, we were wondering if we could see Ochako.”

Seijirou nodded, an understanding expression on his face. “Oh, yes, of course. Dr. Hikari, you know the way to the ER, yes?”

Izuku nodded, pushing Uraraka out and down the hall to the right. He could scarcely believe his lu-

“Dr. Hikari? It’s to the  _ left _ .”

Clearing his throat, he replied, trying to sound embarrassed and not terrified, “Ah, yes, of course. My mistake.”

Seijirou turned back to the Urarakas. “Brilliant doctor, but an awful sense of direction - I’m surprised he manages to make it to work on time. Now then, Mr. and Mrs. Uraraka, I did think of a few more tests we could run to hopefully-”

The moment the elevator door closed, Izuku began moving in the direction of the morgue as fast as he dared - with the Urarakas going to see their daughter, it was a matter of time before his deception was discovered.

The moment he was sure he was out of sight, he ducked into an alcove and used his Ability on the sheet he had laid over Uraraka, turning it into a large garbage bag. Carefully wrapping her in it, he heaved her onto his back and transformed the doctor's outfit he was wearing into a janitorial jumpsuit before beelining for the exit. He had plotted his route ahead of time - there was a small emergency stairwell near the morgue that opened onto a side street where he wouldn’t be as readily noticeable.

As he neared the exit, he sensed a spike of fear and surprise from somewhere in the hospital that made him feel sick to his stomach.

The door was alarmed, but that was no issue to him - he used his Ability, forming a hole in the door itself, then carefully slipped Uraraka through it before following through himself. After fixing the hole, he hefted her back up. He was home free.

He immediately ran into a security guard at the top of the stairs, leaning against the wall and smoking a cigarette. The guard’s radio crackled.

“ _ All security personnel, we have an issue. Missing patient - high schooler, female, brown-haired. Kidnapping suspected. Suspect should still be on-site. _ ”

Still staring at Izuku, the guard raised an eyebrow. “Kidnapping, huh? What sort of price you getting?”

Izuku couldn’t find the words to respond.

“Gotta be a good offer if you’re kidnapping a UA student. So here’s the deal: cut me in on a share of your haul, and you’ll walk away scot free. Sound good?”

He swallowed nervously before replying, “How do I know you won’t backstab me?”

The guard grinned. “You don’t. But it’s either I take you in right here, right now, or I send the cops after someone matching your description later, so I think you’ve got more to lose by declining my generous offer.”

“Fine. I didn’t get any advance payment, though,” he replied, trying to sound as annoyed as possible with the ‘blackmail’.

“Geez, must’ve been a real good offer you got, then. That or you were just real desperate. Makes no difference to me, I guess.” The crooked guard shrugged. “Meet me back here in a week. And remember: I know what you look like.”

_ No, you don’t _ , Izuku thought to himself as he strolled off to freedom.

* * *

Mamizou was bent over howling with laughter as Izuku rushed up to the alley, laying Uraraka on the ground and carefully pulling the bag away from her.

“It all- it all fell apart on you at the last second!” She wheezed out, gasping for breath.

Izuku didn’t see what was so funny, constantly checking over his shoulder for any security, heroes, or vigilantes that might be pursuing him. His silence was all the response she needed.

With a simple snap of her fingers, a whirlwind of leaves sprung up from nowhere, surrounding them and shrouding the world from sight.

“You’ll look back on this and laugh someday, mark my words.”

* * *

Uraraka groggily blinked awake to a clear blue sky. It was a pleasant, mild day, with a clear blue sky and a faint breeze. The grass felt soft beneath her, tempting her to just lay there in relaxation.

Needless to say, she was neither still in Mongaza Prison, nor was she in a hospital. She rose to her feet, swaying from light-headedness as she did so.

“Whoa, easy there!”

A girl ran up to steady her, but Uraraka reflexively recoiled from her at first, looking her over before accepting the aid. She had light brown hair styled into two long, twisting, drill-like tails, adorned with a miniature top hat and expensive-looking round sunglasses.

She peered at Uraraka through orange eyes, holding out a purple-sleeved hand expectantly. “You going to leave me hanging, or are you going to let me help you?”

Uraraka took the girl’s hand. It was mildly uncomfortable, as she was wearing a number of gaudy gold rings. As she grasped it, another dizzy spell washed over her, and she fainted again.

* * *

“She is welcome to stay here as long as she needs,” Byakuren said as the group walked out the back door of the temple. “You know I would never turn down someone in need.”

“Yer generosity, as always, is appreciated,” Mamizou replied. “With any luck, it shouldn’t need to come to that, but Sumireko hasn’t shown her face at the Hakurei Shrine in a few days, and she’s never been the easiest to pin down.”

The monk gave a sympathetic smile. “I hope things turn out well for her. I know from experience what it’s like to be thrown into a world that’s completely alien to you, even if Gensokyo is undoubtedly a more welcoming place than the corner of Makai I was banished to.”

That caught Izuku’s attention. “You were banished to Makai?”

She nodded. “I spent years traveling Japan in the guise of a youkai exterminator, secretly using my position to protect them instead. I gathered a number of like-minded followers who also hoped to promote harmony between our kinds, only to eventually be discovered. To avoid bloodshed, I acquiesced to being sealed away in the desolate region known as Hokkai.”

“We recently encountered a creature in the Outside World that Reimu identified as a Demon - would you be able to tell us more about it?”

A thoughtful look crossed her face. “I can certainly try, though Hokkai is a fairly remote and undeveloped area of Makai, so if information never made it to Esoteria - the province’s capital - I wouldn’t be able to help you.”

Mamizou lit up her kiseru. “It’ll have to do. The creature that attacked looked like-”

A shriek pierced the morning air.

“Uraraka!”

* * *

Breathing heavily, Uraraka rubbed her sore knuckles as the demonic woman from Mongaza Prison stumbled back, clutching her nose and laughing madly.

“Oh, that was great! Better reaction than I could have hoped for! I don’t know what you’re seeing but it got a hell of a rise out of you!”

She rose to her feet, taking a fighting stance from Gunhead Martial Arts to stay on-guard against her opponent.

“Who are you? Where did you take me?”

The woman cackled. “What’s with the fists, wolfy? You trying to make a big show of ‘I come in peace’ or are you just too good to use your claws?”

At the mention of claws, bits and pieces from the previous night began rushing back to her.

Pain.

Confusion.

Fear.

Rage.

Uraraka unclenched one fist, blood dripping from the puncture wounds she had inflicted on herself even as they healed before her eyes. “What… what happened last night?”

“ _ Now _ you’re asking the important questions!” The bat-winged woman laughed again, grinning wildly. “You’re dead.”

An expression of utter heartbreak and terror flew across Uraraka’s face. 

“Dead?” She asked, her voice barely a whisper.

It explained some things, most notably her location - She had apparently been laid on the ground in the middle of a graveyard.

“Uraraka!”

Out of the blue, Izuku came sprinting up, followed by two women, one with animal-like ears and a large bushy tail, and the other with hair that changed color in a strange purple-to-brown gradient as it grew longer.

“Deku!” She called back, her voice quavering with emotion. “What happened? You died too?”

The tailed woman smacked the bat-winged villain upside the head. “Dead? What the hell are you telling the girl, Nue?”

Nue just laughed harder.

“Uraraka, you’re not dead,” Izuku assured her. “These are my friends - the one with the multicolored hair is Hijiri Byakuren, the one laughing like a hyena is Houjuu Nue, and the one with the tail is Futatsuiwa Mamizou, who’s also my father Midoriya Hisashi.”

Mamizou offered a handshake. “I saw you at the Sports Festival - nicely fought.”

Uraraka hesitantly accepted. “You… okay. But where is this, anyway? What happened to me? And you!” She whirled on Nue, leveling a finger accusingly. “You’re working with the Villains! Why are you on good terms with Izuku!?”

Byakuren gave her a patient smile. “This is Gensokyo, a world parallel to your own that acts as a haven for youkai like myself. We brought you here because you yourself have become a youkai - our assumption is that you came into contact with a werewolf at some point, which would explain the ears and claws.”

One of Uraraka’s hands flew to her new wolf ears as the monk continued, “As for Miss Houjuu, her ability allows her to shroud her true form from others, leaving their minds to fabricate an appearance for her. I can assure you, she is not whatever individual you perceive her as.”

“I usually see her as the mythological Nue, or as a cloud of dark smoke,” Izuku added.

She blinked in confusion, which only grew as Nue suddenly became something resembling a pixelated censor.

“You were brought here because youkai - which now includes yourself - require belief to exist, and the Outside World no longer truly believes in our kind,” Byakuren explained. “Had we left you, you would have simply ceased to be, fading into nothingness despite the best efforts of any doctors that could have seen you.”

Tears sprung to Uraraka’s eyes. “Then… then I have to stay here? I can never go home?”

The monk gave her a comforting smile. “Of course not. Izuku is able to live in the Outside World with no issue, after all. We just need to track down the person who made his amulet, and get one made for you as well. You’re welcome to stay at my temple until you can go home again.”

“That’s very generous of you, but-”

“ALL RIGHT, WHAT IN THE HELLS IS GOING ON HERE!?” A new voice shrieked from the edge of the graveyard.

Yanagi Reiko, a look of utter fury on her face, was floating towards the group, a circle of glowing runes orbiting her. A white-haired girl followed at a distance, a look of complete and utter boredom on her face. Izuku immediately threw up his hands.

“Yanagi, it’s not what it looks like, I just-”

“Not what it looks like!? Because it looks like you’ve abducted a classmate and turned her into a youkai!”

“I- I don’t know what happened to her, I just learned about this yesterday, I had to help her, don’t try to exterminate me again!”

_ That _ got Mamizou’s attention. The elder Tanuki stood up straighter and took a deep puff on her pipe. “You tried to  _ exterminate _ my son?”

Reiko’s fury immediately dissipated. “Oh, shit.”

She exhaled a massive cloud of tobacco smoke that engulfed Reiko entirely, dispersing after a moment to reveal a plump albino Dodo lying on the ground, looking more than a little disgruntled.

“Serves you right,” she huffed.

“It’ll wear off after a bit,” reassured a strange, echoing voice that Uraraka soon realized was apparently what Nue sounded like to her now.

* * *

Reiko paled considerably once Izuku had explained his side of the story to her, along with his plan to locate Sumireko.

“You… you weren’t born in Gensokyo?”

“No? Like I said, I was able to live as a normal human until a little more than a year ago, when I got my half-youkai powers.”

“I tried to banish you,” she muttered. “I tried to do the same thing to you that happened to me.”

“Really, it’s fine,” He reassured her.

“It’s not fine,” Mamizou stated flatly.

“It was a big misunderstanding, you didn’t realize that a half-youkai like me could grow up without issue and you thought what you were doing was necessary to protect our world.”

“That doesn’t make it any better!” Mamizou and Reiko shouted at the same time.

“Miss Yanagi, while my own history with overzealous youkai hunters has not been a particularly good one, I believe the important part here is that you acknowledge your mistake and try to do better in the future,” Byakuren interjected.

“Like by helping us find this ‘Usami’ so I can go home,” Uraraka added.

Suddenly, the white-haired girl who had come with Reiko spoke up. “I haven’t seen Sumi in a while.”

“Damn, if Mokou hasn’t seen her and she hasn’t showed her face at the Hakurei Shrine, she’s probably doing something weird and secretive.” Mamizou muttered. “I’ve got no idea how to contact her in the Outside World, so that plan’s a bust.”

“If letting Uraraka exist as a youkai won’t work, why don’t we fix it the other way?” Reiko proposed. “Lycanthropy is transmitted like a disease, through bites. Wouldn’t Eientei have a cure for it? We’ve got Fujiwara right here, after all, we won’t have to worry about navigation.”

“While I dislike the idea that becoming a youkai is simply a disease to be ‘cured’, the choice is ultimately up to Miss Uraraka,” Byakuren stated. “As long as she has no objections to the plan, I see no reason we shouldn’t try it.”

Again, Uraraka’s hands went hesitantly to her wolf ears, running over them nervously. The sensations from her new body parts still felt strange to her. “I’ll do it.”

“Are you sure?” Nue asked. “Being a youkai’s great - you’re stronger, faster, and tougher than a human, and you’ll outlive them all, too!”

The physical upsides  _ were _ tempting… but no. “If being a youkai means I can’t live the way I used to, then I’m sure.”

Mokou shrugged, extending a hand for a handshake. “Then I’m your guide. Name’s Fujiwara no Mokou.”

She was hardly the most encouraging sight - her white hair draped all the way down to her ankles and was generally unkempt outside of several red-and-white paper charms tied to it in various places, and she wore a tattered white shirt that appeared to have lost its sleeves to fire. Her red pants were likewise covered in paper charms.

She looked expectantly at Uraraka with red eyes. “Well?”

Uraraka took her hand. “Uraraka Ochako. Thanks for doing this.”

She shrugged. “Always happy to help people through the forest. By the way, a word of advice - don’t give youkai your full name.”

“Why not?”

“Most youkai are prideful, they like to lord their power over others when they can. You tell them your full name and they’ll use your first name unless they really respect or fear you.”

* * *

The journey through the Bamboo Forest of the Lost was uneventful and extremely mundane so far, traits which could likely be attributed to their guide. Mokou had a fire going in the palm of her hand, lighting the bamboo stalks around them far more effectively than any natural torch could.

Izuku found something about her unnerving, like something fundamental and extremely important was just… missing. If his companions felt the same, they didn’t mention or show it.

“This place still gives me the creeps,” Yanagi grumbled.

“You too?” Uraraka asked.

“I stumbled in here a while back and got lost. Couldn’t find my way out for months, space itself doesn’t work right in this forest.”

“I think I stumbled on a note you left!” Uraraka realized. “You said there were no notable youkai in the area and then I got attacked by a werewolf.”

“Oh. I might need to update that note, then.”

She gave a hysterical giggle. “I’m still trying to come to terms with the fact that this is all happening. Like, I got bitten by a werewolf, abducted into some crazy magical dimension, and now I find out that two of my classmates already have ties to this world? What’s next, is Miss Fujiwara secretly related to Todoroki somehow? She’s got the hair and the fire.”

Mokou stopped abruptly, whirling on them with a glare. “I never had kids,” She said curtly. “And I know for a fact that my father didn’t have any other than me before he died.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I-”

Mokou had already turned back to the path and begun moving again.

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

At last, they arrived at a lavish estate concealed deep within the bamboo grove. It looked like it had come straight out of a period drama, the home of some elegant, reclusive noble from the ninth century.

“Right, here’s your stop, Eientei,” Mokou said gruffly. “You need to leave again, just find Reisen, she knows the route as well as I do.”

“Wait, Reisen? Who’s Rei-” Uraraka tried to ask, but the white-haired guide was already trudging back into the bamboo forest.

Seeing no other option, she walked up to the estate’s gates and knocked on the door. They opened almost the instant her knuckles touched the surface, revealing the same rabbit-eared, pink-dressed girl she had run into that fateful night in the bamboo forest.

“Well, if it isn’t Ochako! How’ve you been, friend?”

“Wh- I- Please call me Uraraka!” She demanded, flustered.

“Oh?” The rabbit girl asked, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. “Are you going to  _ make _ me?”

Too late, Uraraka remembered Mokou’s advice. She frantically looked to her companions. Izuku’s stance was hard to judge, but Reiko didn’t seem inclined to try to fight the youkai rabbit.

“I- um-”

The rabbit grinned. “Alright, if it bugs you that much, sure, I’ll call you Uraraka. Nice to meet you! Name’s Tewi. That’s with a ‘wi’ character, by the way.”

“That character hasn’t been used for centuries,” Izuku said.

“I know,” Tewi replied, still grinning. “So what brings you to our neck of the woods today? Spinal injury? Werewolf bite? Just plain lost?”

“I-” “The second one,” Reiko interrupted, sparing Uraraka from Tewi’s relentless assault.

Tewi disappeared into the grounds, leaving the gate open for them. They followed her as best they could, nearly losing her as Uraraka stopped for a moment to watch a pair of rabbit-girls pounding mochi in the yard, and again once they entered the manor as she seemed to delight in zipping through the narrow corridors as quickly and unpredictably as she could. Eventually, they came to a medical ward, cabinets well-stocked with medicines of all kinds. Sitting at a desk was a stern-looking woman in a red-and-blue dress decorated with constellation patterns, long gray hair styled into a braid. Something resembling a nurse’s cap, colored blue with a red cross on it, sat atop her head. Izuku once again felt something off about her, in the same way as with Mokou.

“Got a Werewolf for ya,” Tewi told her before once more zipping off into the halls of Eientei.

She sighed at the rabbit’s antics before addressing the group. “Since I imagine Tewi didn’t care to do so, allow me to welcome you to Eientei. Now, what sort of treatment were you looking for?”

Her eyes seemed to bore into Uraraka’s soul. “I- I was wondering if you could cure me, Miss…”

“Yagokoro Eirin,” she replied. “And, unfortunately, I am unable to do so.”

“You’re renowned for being able to cure any ailment,” Reiko protested.

“And that is where your misconception lies,” Eirin evenly responded. “You believe that being a youkai is an ailment, a negative affliction. Instead, it is a modifier of sorts, that attaches to one’s being and fundamentally transforms their essence. I could no more ‘cure’ your lycanthropy than I could ‘cure’ you of being yourself - to do so would simply be a fancier way of destroying you.”

“But there are noted cures for lycanthropy in European folklore!” Izuku objected. “Use of Wolfsbane, or surgery, or-”

“Senseless butchery, practiced by those who think they know better than they do. The surgical methods do nothing to address the issue and were carried out by fools with no knowledge of medicine, while wolfsbane is extremely poisonous and only ‘cures’ lycanthropy in that it renders the victim too weak to transform, invariably leading to their demise if the regimen is continued. I cannot cure you, Miss Uraraka - there’s nothing to cure.”

Uraraka was on the verge of tears for a moment, before Eirin’s expression softened. “Depending on your exact concerns, however, I may well have something I can do for you. Come with me for a moment.”

Nodding silently, Uraraka followed Eirin into a side room. While they were away, Izuku looked over the shelves, his eyes wandering across the medicines. They were marked as cures for all sorts of ailments, even ones he had never heard of before - what on earth was “Makaian Bloodrot”, for instance? But most curious of all was a strange, brilliant blue liquid in an unmarked bottle kept in a locked case by itself.

“That’s Ultramarine Orb Elixir,” a new voice told him. He jumped as a purple-haired rabbit girl in a long-sleeved black business suit and beige skirt appeared out of thin air directly next to him.

“One of Mistress Eirin’s more troublesome creations. It lets you see every possible future open to you and choose the one where you avoid harm, allowing you to avoid the Impurity of injury or death. It’s one of the greatest tools we had back in the Lunarian military - every Lunarian knows how to make it, and even Moon Rabbits like myself are permitted to use it in combat.”

“I’m sorry,” Reiko spoke up. “You are?”

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I’m Mistress Eirin’s apprentice, Reisen Udongein Inaba! I just got back from a delivery in the village. I assume she’s looking at your friend?”

Izuku nodded mutely, still disconcerted by the moon rabbit’s sudden appearance.

“She’ll be in good hands. Mistress Eirin’s the greatest mind the Moon has ever known, to say nothing of the Earth.”

After a few moments, Uraraka left the back room, looking a fair bit happier. Eirin exited shortly afterwards.

“Ah, Udonge, could you grab the -----, ------, and ------?”

Izuku blinked at the strange language, while Reisen set about retrieving several bottles from the shelves. “It’s Lunarian,” the moon rabbit explained as she worked. “Some of the medicines we have here don’t have names in any Earth languages.”

“The first one is to let me retract my claws,” Uraraka said, “And the other two are to suppress any full wolf transformation - apparently Gensokyoan werewolves can fully turn into a wolf? Weird.”

“Not doing anything about the ears?” Reiko asked.

“I… um… sorta like them,” she admitted, blushing.

“If that’s all you want, Reisen can show you the way out,” Eirin said, smiling. “Come back when those run out and I can set you up with more.”

The moon rabbit nodded and motioned for the group to follow, leading them through the corridors at a significantly more reasonable pace than Tewi had. Near the exit, a side door opened and another woman stepped out.

She was, in a single word, beautiful. Long black hair, styled into a hime cut, framed a youthful face with clear brown eyes, free of any blemish or flaw. She wore a simple, pink, long-sleeved shirt ornamented with white bows running down its front, providing a tasteful contrast with a long, dark burgundy dress decorated with yellow patterns in the form of bamboo and flowers. The only thing that broke the effect was a slight feeling of unease, of wrongness, that Izuku was inclined to ignore.

“Oh! We have visitors, it seems,” she said in a soft, melodic voice. “I hope you’ve found Eientei to your liking.”

Uraraka was the first of the trio to break the spell. 

“Are you…” She asked quietly, in a tone of amazement. “Are you  _ the _ Princess Kaguya?”

The woman smiled. “I am.”

Izuku could swear that he saw constellations in Uraraka’s eyes as the newly-turned werewolf let out a squeal of delight.

“You’re my favorite character  _ ever _ ! When my Quirk came in, I got obsessed with space stuff and I had my parents read the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter to me every night for a year straight!”

“You seem fairly quick to accept that she’s real,” Reiko muttered. “What happened to your earlier attitude?”

Uraraka elbowed the ghost-like girl in the gut. “Do  _ not _ ruin this for me,” she hissed, before turning her attention back to Kaguya. “I would dream of all the treasures you sent the princes after, and the riches the people of the Moon would send your adoptive father as thanks for looking after you!”

Kaguya giggled. “I’m very flattered that you think so highly of my story. But, you know, stories don’t always end up matching reality.”

“They don’t?” Uraraka asked, sounding slightly betrayed. “Then…”

“I knew from the start the tasks were impossible. After all, I had all the items before I even gave my suitors their tasks to begin with. How can you retrieve an item that’s already in the possession of the person you’re supposed to give them to?”

“Then they’re all here? I could see them all right now?”

Izuku wasn’t sure it was possible for someone to sound happier than Uraraka did at that very moment.

“Would you like to?”

Uraraka nodded frantically. Kaguya laughed and led them into a side hallway.

“I’m sorry about this,” Reisen apologized. “You’re not under any time pressure, are you?”

“Considering Midoriya’s friends are searching for this ‘Usami’ character, I don’t think there’s any harm in us spending an extra hour or so here,” Reiko replied.

Kaguya showed them to an empty room, roughly the size of a medium-sized exhibit hall one would find in an art museum. Something about the room increased Izuku’s sense of wrongness.

“There are more than a few residents of Gensokyo who are fond of theft,” Kaguya began, “So I have to take measures to ensure my collection’s safety. My Ability can lock items into a single instant for all eternity, if I so desire. And with a simple thought from me…”

Suddenly, the room was no longer empty. Eight display cases now graced the room, each one filled with a strange artifact, and a massive, ornate golden panel graced one wall.

Smiling at Uraraka’s gasp of amazement, Kaguya motioned to the nearest case. “The Jeweled Branch of the Hourai Tree has always been my own personal favorite of the collection, and an impossible task to retrieve in more ways than one. Did you know that the Hourai tree is actually native to the Moon? It’s used as a security system by the people of the Lunar Capital. It reacts to Impurity, since the Moon is a Pure land, allowing us to detect outsiders whenever they arrive. But the tragedy of this is that most Lunarians will never see its beauty.”

She produced a twig from the folds of her robes. “This is a clipping from a Hourai tree I cultivated in my chambers, using my Ability to draw the brief instant of Purity when it first grew into an eternity. When the Hourai tree is exposed to Impurity, you see…”

Uraraka gasped as brilliant jewels in every color of the rainbow bloomed from the twig like flowers.

“Unlike the rest of my kind, I never viewed banishment to Earth as a punishment. How could I, when the people who adopted me were so kind and welcoming? I always feared Impurity, though. I tried to isolate myself from it, to hide myself away so I would only see the good parts of the world and not the bad. The first time I saw my Hourai tree in bloom was when I realized that the people of the Moon were wrong.”

She handed the jeweled twig to Uraraka, who took it like it was a fragile baby bird. “You can keep that, if you wish. Now, for the next item in my collection...”

Someone tugged on Izuku’s shirt. “Hey, Izuku.”

He turned to see Tewi. “How do you know my name?”

“I have ears everywhere,” she replied, grinning. “But more importantly, I saw that glint in your eyes when I first met you. Who’s got the spinal injury? Relative? Friend? Friend’s relative? Oh, it’s that third one, I’ve been around long enough to read the most minor tells.”

“What do you want?” He whispered, trying not to interrupt Kaguya’s exposition. From the look of it, the Lunarian princess appeared to be in the middle of imitating one of her hapless suitors’ failed attempts to impress her. Uraraka was laughing heartily at the spectacle.

“Nothing at all,” the rabbit youkai snickered. “I just want you to remember that I helped you out, one day.” 

She held out a small bottle. Izuku took it hesitantly. “This is?”

“This’ll fix them up like they were never injured. There’s only one dose in there, so don’t try splitting it, either. Anyways, I’m out. I’ve heard the princess’s stories enough to recite them from memory.”

And with that, the trickster bounced away into the endless halls of Eientei. Izuku turned back to the group.

“It was hard to find more items for my collection, but I was eventually able to find four more items I deemed worthy of inclusion. The first of them was actually acquired from a like-minded collector.”

He looked at the item in the case - a smooth crystal in the shape of a rounded triangle, in a brilliant deep red color.

“It’s a miracle of nature - a crystal capable of refracting light up to a million times, without a single imperfection in its composition,” Kaguya boasted. “From what I’ve gathered, it was at the center of a conflict between two ancient tribes before it was thought lost following a volcanic eruption in Italy in 1939 and eventually made its way into the possession of our own local vampire. From there, I was able to acquire it in exchange for several of Eirin’s treatises on medicine.”

Uraraka suddenly realized something. “Yanagi, Deku, you need to leave Gensokyo and get to Mount Fuji immediately!”

“Why?”

“The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter ends with the emperor burning an immortality elixir at the summit, it’s not originally a volcano! You need to make sure nobody can get the-”

Kaguya interrupted with a giggle. “Oh, you don’t need to worry. Your guide took care of that.”

“She ambushed the emperor’s men and stole the Hourai Elixir for herself,” Eirin elaborated, shocking the trio of students, none of whom had heard the Lunarian enter the room. “Had that not been the case, you would have been right to worry - the Elixir is perfect, created through a combination of the princess’s Ability and my own medical expertise. It imbues the drinker with the very concept of Eternity, removing all capacity for lasting change from their body and ensuring that no force in existence can destroy them. Even if they were somehow annihilated at the atomic level, their form would be restored in a matter of moments.”

“Then Mokou is…” Uraraka started.

“The daughter of one of my suitors, and has held a grudge against me for refusing his hand in marriage for over a thousand years,” Kaguya finished. “I imagine she stole the elixir as some petty vengeance originally, not realizing that I had never left the Earth. She certainly seemed surprised to see me all those centuries later.”

“You never left the Earth? Then the ending of the story, with the Heavenly Feather Robe…”

“I was among the delegation sent to retrieve the princess,” Eirin said. “But my loyalty to her is absolute. I aided her in killing them to the last man before going into hiding, and left that cursed item where it lay.”

“Cursed?” Reiko asked.

“It was said to remove all of the wearer’s empathy and compassion for the people of Earth,” Uraraka explained.

“One of the Amatsu clan’s most vile creations,” Eirin spat. “It was intended as a way to enforce the ‘ideal’ Lunarian mindset onto the wearer. I have no qualms about killing Ushio.”

“Then the robe would still be out there somewhere,” Reiko pointed out.

“Its power only applies when a Lunarian puts it on someone - any human would just find it to be a fancy robe. And no Lunarian would willingly visit the Earth and risk tainting themselves with Impurity.”

“Even if a Lunarian were to be exiled to Earth,” Kaguya added, “They would die before they could do much harm. Exposure to Impurity is the source of all creatures’ lifespans - while Lunarians can live forever on the Moon, on the Earth they’d have just a scant few decades.”

* * *

Izuku returned home without incident, Mamizou dropping him off a few blocks from his house. They had, unfortunately, been unable to locate Sumireko, though Uraraka seemed eager to go back to visit Eientei again, so she didn’t seem as upset as she could have been. And, he reminded himself, he had the elixir Tewi had given him in his pocket, ready to be used to heal Iida’s brother and allow his return to the world of Heroics. Overall, a generally successful trip, despite the mess it had started off as. Actually, that reminded him, he’d need to talk to the faculty who were in on Gensokyo’s existence - they needed to know that Uraraka was safe, and also now a werewolf.

He stopped dead as he entered his room, the door swinging shut behind him with a strangely ominous ‘click’. A woman stood there, her back to him, reading through one of his analysis notebooks.

“I’ve never seen the need for notebooks, myself,” she said, turning to him.

“It’s a delight to meet you, Midoriya Izuku. I believe our meeting is more than a little overdue.”

She was unmistakable - long blonde hair tied at the ends with a multitude of red bows, spilling out from under a simple white mob cap with a red ribbon tied into a lemniscate. An elaborate, pale pink dress paired with a purple tabard decorated with the hexagram “Ts’ui”. Golden eyes that seemed to peer into his very being.

Yakumo Yukari.

The Youkai of Boundaries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ibana Hospital is named for Ord Ibanna, another one of the planets visited in the Star Wars podracing game. What can I say, I like that game.
> 
> Tewi's name is one of two names in Touhou that use the hiragana character ゐ, or "wi", as a way to emphasize the character's ages. The character itself is archaic, no longer used in modern Japanese, and fell out of functional usage by the 13th century as its pronunciation became unified with that of い, or "i". 
> 
> Ushio's name means "tide" or "current", carrying on the naming convention I have for the Amatsu clan. Ironically, the original kami Amatsu-Mikaboshi's name doesn't fit this naming convention, as his name instead translates to the awesome "Dread Star of Heaven".
> 
> I could have had Kaguya go on for ages gushing about her treasures, but the section was already gigantic. I had to keep the bit about the Red Stone, at least.


	22. Scheming Outside the Box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku deals with a visitor, and school resumes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6.5k hits and over 250 kudos! It might seem like a bit of a broken record for me to keep noting these milestones seemingly every chapter, but I like to do it - lets me see how this grew over time when I look back at the chapter, and I want to show that I definitely don't take you guys for granted. Thank you all for your continuing support as I march ever onward with my frenzied pace.
> 
> Chapter title is from one of Antinomy of Common Flowers's pre-battle themes, and one of the ones I like more among the lot. I've always liked the pre-battle themes from the Touhou fighting games, I feel like they're somewhat underappreciated.
> 
> One of these days I'm gonna realize I've already used all the song names that fit a chapter, but that day is not today.

“Take a seat if you'd like,” Yukari offered. “I understand it’s been a long day for you.”

Izuku didn’t dare to move a muscle, acutely aware of just how powerful the youkai before him was. He had no doubt that Yukari could wipe him from existence without any effort if she wanted to.

“No? Suit yourself, I suppose. This shouldn’t take too long, anyway.”

“Yanagi was wrong,” he finally managed to say.

“Miss Yanagi holds several misconceptions, most of which I see no point in correcting. Obviously, if you can find a way to exist in the Outside World, then someone like myself can as well.”

“Uraraka was able to enter Gensokyo and even become a youkai without even hearing of your existence, and by all accounts you tend to be a fairly reclusive individual. Yanagi’s reaction is one that demonstrates that she not only knows of your existence, she is completely terrified of you to the point that she would do anything to stop you from entering our world. Most likely this indicates that you specifically cultivated that reaction from her, but to what exact purpose…”

Yukari gave a slight smirk as Izuku embarked on a muttering spree, retrieving a decorated folding fan from somewhere and opening it to conceal her mouth from view. “Why indeed? Now, I have some questions of my own for you. Firstly: Do you know what this is?”

She held up a small bottle of medicine. It looked somewhat familiar, but for a moment, he couldn’t remember from  _ where _ .

“No?” She asked, sounding somewhat amused. “I can see why you need to put your thoughts on paper.”

With a start, he suddenly remembered - the elixir Tewi had given him. Patting his pockets, he found them empty. Yukari chuckled from behind her fan, leaning back to recline in a sudden crack that had formed in space-time.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to take Lunarian medicine into the Outside World, no matter what intentions you have for it. A miraculous recovery after the finest of modern medicine and quirk-based healing techniques have failed to restore someone’s mobility invites inconvenient questions, you understand.”

Izuku watched with a lump in his throat as the treatment meant for Iida’s brother vanished with a wave of the youkai’s hand.

“With that out of the way, how are you finding Gensokyo, so far? Even though you spend the majority of your time in the Outside World, I trust you’ve made some allies, especially considering your parentage?”

He stayed silent, thinking of the aid Nue and Mamizou had offered him in rescuing Uraraka. If Yukari was willing to directly involve herself to dispose of a single bottle of medicine, then her reaction to the two tricksters directly involving themselves in his scheme would be anything but good.

She responded to his thoughts. “You misunderstand my aims, Izuku. I genuinely want to know if you’ve found Gensokyo welcoming so far - I may take a more hands-off approach to its management, but I care about the wellbeing of all youkai who call my realm home.”

“It’s been… good, I suppose,” he slowly began, still wary of her intentions. “I’ve mainly hung around the Myouren Temple.”

“Byakuren’s crew are an excellent introduction for a newcomer - many of the other youkai groups range from unwelcoming to straight-up isolationist. The Tengu, for instance, would have likely taken exception to you setting foot on their mountain even had you been part-tengu.”

Izuku thought of the Jiangshi that had attacked him, shuddering at the memory of how close she had come to biting through him during their struggle.

“Miss Kaku could really stand to put her pet on a leash, wouldn’t you agree?” Yukari said, a smirk audible in her voice even if it was concealed behind her fan. “Regardless, if a run-in with the graveyard’s resident nuisance is the most notable thing that happened during your introduction to Gensokyo, I’d count that as successful. Most of our newcomers think the best thing to do is cause an Incident.”

He recalled the various Incidents Mamizou had described to him - red fog blotting out the sun, winter without end, an everlasting night. His own Ability seemed paltry in comparison.

“I wouldn’t be able to cause an Incident even if I had wanted to,” he replied.

Yukari gave him a strange look. “Yes, I suppose you wouldn’t. Now, before I go…”

Without warning, a hole appeared in space just inches from his head, her hand reaching out to lazily tap him in the center of his forehead. The world immediately exploded into chaos around him.

“Tell me - what do you  _ see _ ?”

Nothing had form anymore, not truly. Overlaid over every object in his room was seemingly every possible state of being - burned, torn, shattered, rotting, gleaming, spotless, and countless more besides. The world beyond his window was no better - he watched in vacant horror as a sparrow landed on an ever-changing, formless branch, singing its song merrily ignorant of the infinite forms Izuku viewed it with, the myriad states of feast and famine visible on its body, visions of its death by countless means causing phantoms of the bird to fall dead at its feet even as it continued to chirp happily.

In the center of everything, Yukari alone remained a constant, her form the only entity in what seemed to be all of existence that remained static and unchanging.

“Well?” She pressed.

Reeling, he tried to steady himself with his chair, trusting it was at least physically present as his hand reached out for the area where its back normally was - the arch of the furniture piece was nearly invisible, as so many visions of the object had the majority of it destroyed by fire or age.

His hand grasped the wood. It was a mistake. The object immediately exploded into blindingly brilliant permutations, no longer content to keep the form of a chair, it surged out into formless chaos of all colors and shapes. He released the object almost immediately, falling to his knees as the world itself overwhelmed him, curling in on himself in an attempt to block everything out.

Yukari watched the whole process with the dispassionate expression of a scientist checking on their control group.

After a long moment, she snapped her fan shut, and in an instant the world returned to normal. He once more lay crumpled in a perfectly intact room, All Might memorabilia lining the walls and shelves, notebooks neatly sorted. For a moment, the only sound in the room was his ragged, heavy panting.

“A disappointing, if expected, result,” Yukari sighed.

She stepped around him as he continued to lay motionless on the floor. Some metallic object clunked against his desk.

“As a show of good will,” she explained.

“Wh- why?” He finally managed to gasp. “Why intervene now, why take measures against  _ me _ ?”

Yukari gave no response as existence tore itself asunder behind her, unblinking eyes staring out at him from within a black void.

Stepping into the gap in reality, she paused for a moment and turned back to him. “It should go without saying, but you won’t tell anyone I visited you.”

The void snapped shut, and Izuku was left alone in his room. When he finally staggered to his feet, he found an amulet identical to his own lying on his desk.

* * *

Izuku ran into Sumireko almost immediately upon entering Gensokyo.

“Hey, long time no see! How’ve you been?”

“You ghosted us,” he immediately replied.

“Psh, it worked out in the end, didn’t it? I can see you’ve acquired another amulet from somewhere.”

“Where were you, anyways? Nobody knew where you had gotten off to.”

She turned her phone around to show him a selfie taken in front of a pile of KOed Oni. “I was charting Hell, if you really want to know. I heard there was some cyberpunk city down there run by animal ghost yakuza guys and wanted to check it out. Lost track of time - turns out Hell’s a real big place when you don’t know where you’re going. Buncha chump Oni who think they’re tough, though. There’s no rules down there, everyone thinks they can be the biggest, baddest boss. Honestly, I think the Gensokyo Oni are way tougher.”

Izuku didn’t have a response to her latest adventure.

“Anyways, giving your friend that amulet won’t work on its own - you need to get her out of Gensokyo manually. That being said, if you let go of it, it’ll stay here instead of going with you, so you can hand it off to her no problem.”

“How does that work?”

Sumireko shrugged. “Beats me. I know it works though, since I took a fish with me one time. Anyways, you’ll probably want Mamizou to handle the whole ‘getting your friend out of Gensokyo’ bit, so I’ll leave you to it. She can be tricky to find sometimes.”

“No need for that,” Mamizou interrupted, dismissing her gravestone disguise. Sumireko was shocked into awakeness, disappearing on the spot.

“Do you just constantly hang around the graveyard?” Izuku asked, puzzled.

“Only when you’re going to be around,” she replied. “I’ve got too many plans going to sit idle all day. Now let’s see about yer girl, huh?”

“I- she’s not-”

Mamizou laughed as the two of them headed into the temple.

“If you happen to see Joon, please remind her it’s her day to clean the yard,” Byakuren requested as they entered.

“She didn’t do it yesterday?”

“I haven’t seen her since yesterday.”

“That’s not good,” Mamizou muttered. “She’s always plotting something, despite yer best efforts to straighten her out. I’ll keep an eye out.”

Uraraka had been given a small guest room in the monks’ quarters, less furnished than the others (though Izuku doubted Byakuren would approve of the decor in some of her disciples’ rooms - he was fairly certain Buddhism frowned upon having a sorted collection of sake bottles on display, for instance). Her face lit up as they entered.

“I was able to get you this,” Izuku said, handing her the amulet. “It’ll allow you to live in our world normally, as long as you don’t get too far from it. Mamizou can take you back home, just tell her where to drop you off.”

“You’re not coming?” Uraraka asked, puzzled.

“I’m actually dreaming right now - it’s a side effect of the amulet,” he explained, showing his own copy to her. “I’m not sure what would happen if I had Mamizou bring me back outside, but I’d rather not risk it.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I can see how that might get weird fast. So, I’ll still be coming back here every night?”

“Yeah, sorry. I’m not sure if there’s a way to stop that from happening. I could ask Usami the next time I see her,” he offered.

Uraraka shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I was actually hoping I’d be able to come back here - I’d like to visit Princess Kaguya again, and I want to find the werewolf who bit me to hopefully learn more about what I have to live with now.”

“Well, I’m here every night if you need me,” he offered.

She smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. And thanks. For saving me, and for everything, really.”

* * *

In contrast to the school week, UA kept its gates closed on the weekend. Izuku briefly considered using his Ability to breach it before realizing just how stupid that would be. As he was considering how to get Nezu’s attention (UA’s phone number had just handed him to an answering machine), his phone rang.

“I assume whatever news you have can’t wait until tomorrow?” The voice of UA’s principal inquired.

Izuku nodded, eyes fixed on the camera watching the front gate.

“Aizawa will be down to let you in shortly.”

True to his words, the erasure hero turned up within a few minutes, opening the gate to allow Izuku in. 

“Follow me,” he said before turning and heading back into the school building.

The moment the door to Nezu’s office closed behind him, Izuku cut straight to the point.

“Uraraka’s a werewolf now.”

“I had wondered if that might be the case,” Nezu said. “Considering the symptoms Shinsou and Gunhead described, as well as the fact that it was a full moon on the night of the incident, it seemed plausible enough. I imagine she’ll have the same concerns you do with regards to keeping her alive outside of this parallel world of yours?”

“Unfortunately, that puts us on a time limit,” Aizawa said. “She was abducted from Ibana Hospital yesterday. We’re still looking for leads, but the immediate trail has gone cold - Hound Dog couldn’t pick up the perpetrator's scent for some reason, but he followed Uraraka’s for a few blocks before it reached a dead end in an alley.”

“That, um, was me, actually,” Izuku admitted guiltily. “Nue, one of my friends in Gensokyo, used her Ability to disguise me so I could rescue Uraraka.”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t be a problem child,” the underground hero groaned, massaging his temples. “Midoriya, you’re smarter than that - UA provides treatment for its students, you could have come to us and we would have arranged for Uraraka to be taken into our care.”

“The main problem,” Nezu pointed out, “is that you were seen. Explaining Uraraka’s disappearance would be easy enough to do if not for that. While this ‘Nue’ person’s Ability let you go unidentified, it puts us in a position where we have to pretend that someone attempted to kidnap a UA student, and infiltrated a hospital with the use of a disguise quirk in order to do so.”

“And that means raising security,” Izuku realized. “I’m really sorry I’ve put you in this position, I-”

“Not to worry,” the principal replied before he could finish his thought. “I had been considering such measures since the USJ incident to begin with. It’s clear that our security is currently somewhat lacking.”

“And the hospital?” Aizawa asked pointedly.

“They would do well to up security as well. While Midoriya’s heist was ultimately well-intentioned, I noticed some disturbing trends when looking for other cases like Yanagi’s. Specifically, many of the hospitals in the Musutafu and Tokyo areas have a habit of misplacing bodies. No reports of wrongdoing - rather, they simply disappear from the records without any documentation after a point.”

“So you think some villain organization is behind it?”

“I can’t say for certain, but hopefully increased vigilance will reveal the culprit, or at least make these events less likely in the future. Thank you for letting us know, Midoriya. I assume Uraraka will be in school tomorrow?”

Izuku nodded. “I’ve sorted things out so she should be safe now.”

“Excellent! You are dismissed, then. Aizawa, we need to get our story straight regarding Miss Uraraka’s physical changes.”

As he was about to leave, he stopped and turned back to the duo.

“By the way, Yakumo - erm, the Youkai of Boundaries - visited and spoke with me last night. I don’t think her intentions are as bad as Yanagi believes.”

Nezu blinked once, a puzzled expression on his face. “Are you feeling well, Midoriya?”

“Yes, why?”

“You just stopped there, like you wanted to add something but forgot what you were going to say.”

_ “You won't tell anyone I visited you,” _ Yukari’s voice echoed in his head.

“It’s nothing, sorry.”

The principal blinked again. “Very well. If you remember what you wanted to say, do let me know. Now, Aizawa, I believe that the best explanation for the changes to Miss Uraraka would be to claim that it was the result of a quirk that transforms other people.”

“That’s absolutely ridiculous,” the bedraggled hero objected. “It’s an irrational explanation and I refuse to believe you can’t think of a better one.”

* * *

“I have a few announcements before we start the day,” Aizawa declared, sounding even more tired than usual. “First off, Uraraka was afflicted by an unknown Villain’s Quirk during the incidents over this past week, resulting in her current appearance. I expect you all to treat her as you normally would - UA has given her a thorough examination and concluded that there are no adverse effects other than the obvious cosmetic alterations.”

A slight murmur ran through the class, thankfully overwhelmingly sympathetic from what Izuku could identify.

“Secondly,” Aizawa continued, “in light of the recent attacks on UA and its students, the school has decided to begin transitioning to a dorm system.”

He held up a hand to silence the resultant uproar, only continuing once everyone had settled down. “The dormitories won’t be finished for about a month, so you'll all have plenty of time to prepare for the move. Additionally, we are aware this is fairly short notice, and will allow you to opt out of the system for this semester. You will be expected to use the dorms in subsequent semesters unless you can provide a valid excuse, however, so I recommend getting used to them sooner rather than later.”

Iida’s hand immediately went up. “Sir, why the long delay? Surely it should be possible to have the building completed far sooner with Cementoss’s Quirk?”

“Cementoss can only manipulate cement,” Izuku pointed out. “Everything else would need to be manually installed unless someone with a different Quirk helped out. It’s fine for constructing the buildings we use for training, but an actual livable building has more considerations to take into account.”

“One month is already extremely fast for constructing a dorm building - it’s unheard of for companies that don’t have quirk-licensed workers,” Uraraka added.

“I see,” Iida replied, lowering his hand. “I had neglected to consider those factors. I retract my question.”

* * *

The moment class let out for lunch, conversations about the announcements at the start of the day opened up.

“I’m so pumped for these dorms! It’ll be great to be able to hang out with everyone more often and get to know them better!”

“Where’d you go for your internship, Yanagi? …Yanagi? Hello?”

“Uraraka, are you okay? I heard about Gunhead on the news.”

“Geez, a Quirk that gives you animal ears? The Villain had to have been a real weirdo, huh? I’m just picturing some perverted little midget. Makes me shiver just thinking about him.”

Tokoyami avoided the conversations, heading straight for the lunchroom with uncharacteristic haste. Concerned, Izuku immediately followed him.

The bird-headed boy had already managed to make his way through the lunch line and grab food with admirable speed by the time Izuku arrived. “How was your Internship, Tokoyami?”

The boy sighed and picked at his omurice.

“Bad, huh?”

“Komuso was mostly a bust,” he admitted. “Sure, I got better at working with Dark Shadow, but…”

“...That was more because the old monk had some real crazy training for us and we bonded over how much it sucked,” the Quirk finished. “Seriously, stuff like meditating under a waterfall in your underwear - who does stuff like that anymore?”

The shadowy being offered Tokoyami a high five, which went unanswered for several awkward moments before being abandoned.

“...Did you at least find what you were looking for on Itsukushima?” Izuku tried.

The would-be youkai hunter sighed. “That was the worst part - I  _ did _ . Just as she wrote, there was a cave further inland from where the main shrine is. There was nothing inside.”

“Oh.”

Izuku didn’t know how he could offer any comfort. At least, not without revealing Gensokyo’s existence.

“I don’t know what’s true anymore - did my ancestor really fight a demon on Itsukushima? Was Yanagi right that it was all lies?”

“I told you, your ancestor’s story was suspicious from the start,” Reiko suddenly interjected, setting a bowl of rice on the table as she chewed on a mushroom skewer. “Shrines are Pure ground - no youkai would ever choose to settle there.”

“A Tanuki lives in a shrine in the story of the Bunbuku Tea-Kettle,” Tokoyami objected, some of his spirit returning in the face of the ghostlike girl’s challenge.

“But the tanuki in question was only on shrine grounds for a short amount of time,” She countered. “The moment they tried using him to boil water, he partially reverted and they ended up selling him to a merchant soon after.”

“The Tengu, then - they found Minamoto no Yoshitsune when he was in exile at the temple on Mount Kurama and taught him to fight.”

“Tengu myths came about as a result of shugendo practitioners, and they always retained an association with religion as a result,” She immediately replied. “It’s far more likely that Yoshitsune simply learned to fight from a group of yamabushi - they certainly caused enough of a headache during later periods.”

“You’re thinking of the Ikko-Ikki, who were a different sect of Buddhism,” Tokoyami objected.

Reiko gave Izuku a pointed look. “You know as much folklore as I do, if not more, Midoriya - back me up here.”

Izuku threw his hands up as a show of neutrality as the pair continued to devolve into bickering about myths and origins. At least Tokoyami seemed to have cheered up to an extent.

* * *

For the second time in as many months, a panel of mixed UA Faculty and Pro Heroes had gathered in a meeting room. Inspector Tsukauchi started the proceedings.

“I apologize for the delay in calling this meeting, but we wanted to give the heroes injured in the recent incident time to recover, since this information is relevant to them as well.”

Gunhead nodded, chest still bandaged. Gran Torino, despite having recovered enough to be mobile, had declined to attend.

“Beginning our agenda, we have the attack on Hosu. As you are all aware, a number of monsters were unleashed upon Hosu city. Eyewitness reports identify the League of Villains as the culprit - the leadership from their attack on USJ was seen releasing the creatures from a rooftop.”

The detective clicked a button, causing an image of two of the monsters to appear on the screen - a white, eyeless creature, snarling at the police officers dragging its restrained form towards an armored vehicle and a black, beaked creature with an exposed brain lying dead on the ground.

“Both of the pictured creatures were recovered. The first was defeated by several of Endeavor’s sidekicks, while the second was found in a crater just outside of the city limits.”

“So someone dropped it from a massive height and killed it,” Snipe theorized.

“I’m afraid not,” Tsukauchi replied. “Analysis of the body indicates that it was dead before it hit the ground.”

“What killed it, then?” Aizawa asked, eyebrow raised.

“As far as we can tell, every synapse in its brain fired simultaneously for an extended period of time, causing irreparable damage. It likely would have survived the fall otherwise - it seemed to have had shock absorption and regeneration.”

“Hell of a Quirk,” Snipe whistled. “The League’s stocking some heavy hitters quick, it seems - they must be planning on making a move soon.”

Endeavor nodded. “We should make sure the unidentified villain doesn’t join up with them.”

“You don’t think they’re dead?” The cowboy-esque hero asked.

“Of course not,” he sneered. “I’m not a fool. They’ve come back from an apparent death before, and I was too far away to confirm their death. They’re just as likely to be laying low to regain their strength.”

“How can you be sure they haven’t already joined forces?”

“No Hero reported fighting that thing, no civilian would have had a Quirk capable of killing it in that manner, and the unidentified villain displayed an ability to both fight at high altitude and bring other objects up to that height.”

“So we keep an eye out for any signs that villain might be resurgent,” Aizawa declared. “Hosu overall seems to have been a net loss for the League - they lost several useful assets for little immediate gain.”

“While that’s true in a vacuum, there’s reason to believe they were looking more long-term with their attack,” Tsukauchi replied. “The individual who attacked Mongaza Prison matches descriptions we got from several Villains captured during the USJ attack, a third member of their leadership. Gunhead?”

The Battle Hero nodded. “She didn’t identify herself during the attack, but she knew where she was going and what to get. I’m ashamed to say it was a total loss on our part and only pure luck stopped things from getting worse.”

“So Hosu was a distraction, then,” Snipe reasoned. “A way to draw heroes away from their real goals.”

Aizawa shook his head. “A single breakout wouldn’t be enough to make up for those losses, and no similar incidents were reported. More likely, they intended it as a message - a way to say ‘look, we’re big and powerful, join us’ to any up-and-coming villains.”

* * *

The rest of the week passed uneventfully, until Friday. Uraraka stopped Izuku as classes let out for the weekend. “Say, um, Deku?”

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering if…”

She found herself struggling with what she was about to do. Sure, she knew it was a nice gesture, but with her meager budget…

_ Don’t worry about it, _ something deep inside her said.  _ He’ll love it. It’ll be a great afternoon, just the two of you… _

“I was wondering if you wanted to go out together tomorrow.”

Izuku seemed to lock up, and for a long, agonizing minute, Uraraka was terrified she had just ruined their friendship. After what seemed like an eternity, he smiled.

“I’d love to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always viewed the Incidents of the Original PC Trilogy of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Perfect Cherry Blossom, and Imperishable Night as _THE_ archetypal Incidents. Just, something about them feels so impactful, you know? You could be a happy villager in the Human Village and never even hear about Mountain of Faith's Incident (religious turf war), or the flying treasure ship in Undefined Fantastic Object might be an interesting newspaper article to you, but when the entire sky gets covered in scarlet mist or nighttime just straight-up doesn't end, you NOTICE that, and there's not a single place you can hide from it.
> 
> If Tokoyami had been more clever, he would have brought up Hakuzousu, a Kitsune priest of Inari, or the Onryo of Sugawara no Michizane, who actually became the kami Tenjin through worship.
> 
> Minamoto no Yoshitsune, or Ushiwakamaru as he was known in his youth, was supposedly taught swordsmanship, magic, and tactics by the Tengu, specifically their king, Sojobo.


	23. Ghostly Band ~ Phantom Ensemble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uraraka and Izuku finally get a pleasant day to themselves after all the youkai-related nonsense in their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7,000 hits - every time I look at the hit counter I'm reminded of how much the reception to this fic has exceeded my expectations.
> 
> Chapter title is the Prismriver Sisters' boss theme from Perfect Cherry Blossom, featuring the iconic instrument the fandom affectionately calls the "ZUNpet" for ZUN's frequent usage of it.

That night, Uraraka found herself fretting endlessly over what to wear. She didn’t normally worry about clothing, but Izuku was special to her - he had saved her during the entrance exam, taken charge during the battle trials, and willingly thrown himself into the line of fire to help in any way he could during USJ. He was smart, understanding, and kind, and apparently willing to break the law to do the right thing (maybe not the best trait for someone looking to go into a government-paid career, but hey, she wasn’t going to complain considering she would apparently be dead if he hadn’t stepped in). She wanted to make sure she made the best impression she could.

She frowned at the potential outfit she had laid out. Was it too casual?

_ You should have gotten a nice dress earlier this week. _

But then, maybe not - her budget was tight enough as it was, she didn’t need a new dress  _ and _ a date eating into it.

“Ochako, you should go to bed!” called her dad’s voice from elsewhere in the apartment.

“In a moment!” She called back. “I still haven’t decided what I’m wearing!”

After long deliberation, she finally put out a simple outfit consisting of a pink t-shirt and jeans. Izuku was a good person, he wouldn’t care about what she was wearing.

She tried to ignore that nagging thought deep inside her:  _ This is a mistake, you should buy something nice first thing tomorrow. _

* * *

Uraraka got off the train at Tatooin station with a good fifteen minutes to spare before her meeting time with Izuku. The street was a fair bit busier than normal - considering the damage done to Hosu’s main thoroughfares, it seemed like a portion of the normal residents had chosen to go about their errands at Musutafu instead. Understandable, if slightly worrying. She hoped that the cafe she had picked out wouldn’t have a wait.

_ There might still be time to hit up a clothing store... _

Five minutes later, Izuku showed up, also a fair bit early. Any worries she had about her outfit were quickly put to rest by his own attire - what appeared to be the same slacks he wore to UA every day, along with a white T-Shirt decorated with text reading ‘formal wear’.

“Oh, sorry, Uraraka! Were you waiting long?”

“Only a little bit,” she assured him. “You’re early anyways, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t waiting long.”

“I showed up early because I didn’t want you to have to wait for me,” he laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “So what was the plan, anyways?”

“I was thinking we could grab lunch, there was a cafe I found nearby that seemed nice,” she offered, silently hoping he’d say yes since she had no backup plan.

To her relief, he smiled at the offer. “Sounds great! I used to walk by here all the time in Junior High, but I never really stopped at any of the restaurants - I was usually trying to get home as fast as I could.”

That seemed somewhat at odds with what she knew about him - she expected he’d have lingered on his way home to try to catch any hero fights he could - but she didn’t pry. She led the way to a small cafe at the corner of a fairly busy intersection, sighing with relief that the crowds didn’t seem to be paying it any special mind.

Izuku insisted on grabbing a seat by the windows.

“Cafes like this tend to be prime Hero watching spots,” he explained as he craned his neck to look at the crowd outside. “They’re central enough that they’ll be near most heroes’ patrol routes, and if you’re really lucky you can catch them in action - or even see them stop in for a bite!”

She smiled as he began gushing various statistics regarding patrol routes, what times of day were the most active for both heroes and villains, and what sort of crimes were most likely to be flushed into an intersection like the one they were at.

_ This cafe was a good decision. _

She had thought about it the whole week, after all, checking what sites were most recommended for hero watchers - and wincing at the average price on their menu while trying to convince herself that yes, it was a good idea. At least their mochi was relatively cheap.

“So how was your internship, Deku? You were with Kamui Woods, if I remember?”

His face lit up. “Yeah! He’s always been one of my favorite heroes, so I was thrilled to see him extend me an invite! It was also a great opportunity to work on using my power for a more specialized purpose - I’ve mainly been using it defensively or to bypass armor, so it was great to try to use it for capture as well. You remember that 1-B kid during the Sports Festival? The one with the skull-like face?”

It took a moment before she remembered who he was talking about. “Oh yeah! The kid who turned the floor to mud! I remember thinking it was a good call to stick to the edge of the arena.”

He nodded. “I’ve been trying to do something similar by transforming the ground to mud, but I can’t do it nearly as fast as he can, or in as large an area. I’d say he’s just more specialized than I am, but I’ve got this nagging feeling like I’m just misunderstanding my power.”

“It must be tricky, working with a Quirk as versatile as yours. I can pretty much just train my weight limit, so I spent most of my internship learning Gunhead’s style, so I can grapple people and make the best use of my power. I just wish I could have had a bit longer - I only got half a week of training in.”

“What happened, anyways? I only got a vague overview from Shinsou.”

Just as soon as he said it, Izuku waved his hands around frantically. “Y-you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to!”

Uraraka sighed.  _ Gonna need some mochi for this one. _ Thankfully, the waitress quickly arrived with their food.

“Mongaza Prison wanted us to supervise a prisoner transfer for them,” she said between bites. “This bat-winged woman attacked a bit after we arrived, before the transfer started - she had some weird Quirk that created destructive effects in an area. I only remember furnace temperatures and cold that cracked our skin in seconds.”

“Could you describe what she looked like?”

“Long, blonde hair, purple eyes, pointed ears and a red star tattooed below her left eye. Do you think she was…?”

Izuku nodded. “She might have just had an extremely powerful Quirk, but the League did try to send that thing after All Might during the USJ.”

She was silent for a moment, processing the fact that the League was very likely involved with this secret supernatural conflict.

“She caught me off guard, then followed up with the cold attack. I blacked out after that.”

“Your parents must have been worried sick after that.”

“Yeah, they've been in my apartment for the past week,” Uraraka admitted. “It’s not that I don’t like them, I love them, they’re my parents, you know? It’s just that I feel like I’m keeping them from their work.”

Izuku could see where she was going. “With the devastation in Hosu, this should be the perfect time for their construction company, but you’re worried they’ll miss the opportunity because they’re helping you.”

Nodding, she let out a heaving, frustrated sigh. “I don’t want to be a burden to them.”

_ You should buy some more mochi, you’re getting worked up. _

She waved the waitress over to place another order, changing things up by getting some with red bean filling rather than the slightly cheaper plain mochi. She felt a little guilt at the extra purchase, especially when she was in the middle of worrying about her parents’ own funds.

_ Don’t be. UA’s opening that dorm, you won’t have to save money for rent. It’s downright economical! _

Izuku continued after she made her purchase. “I don’t think you should worry too much about it. When I talked with Aizawa about your situation, he mentioned UA covers medical treatment for students. I’m sure they’ve also got measures put in place for situations like yours.”

“Huh, that does make sense…”

“And if it was such a hardship for them, I doubt they would have stayed for the whole week anyways. Caring about you includes making sure you have a home to live in, after all.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes me feel better. Thanks, Deku.”

The bill arrived soon after that, and Uraraka winced internally when she saw the number - about as much as she would spend on food over a whole weekend, in no small part due to the fact that she had bought more mochi and a refill on her drink at least twice each.

At least Izuku was happy.

“You know, if you want, we could continue this tonight,” Izuku offered.

Uraraka was about to try to float herself away to flee the awkward (and uncharacteristically forward) proposition when she caught Izuku giving a pointed glance to the amulet he had given her. Right.

“I know you’re still new to the area,” he continued, the double-meaning in his statement clear to her. “So I could show you around a bit, if you want.”

She smiled. “See you tonight, then.”

* * *

Izuku had to dodge a pack of chattering kappa nearly the instant he appeared in the graveyard that night. Dumbfounded, he watched them for a second as they carried a massive box to the graveyard's edge, setting it down and unfolding it to reveal it was apparently a portable food stall. They wasted no time in putting up several banners advertising a variety of cucumber dishes.

As he stood there watching them begin shouting at a nearby stall (an ice fairy peddling ‘ice-flavored’ shaved ice, who had apparently set up her stand in such a way that it was protruding into the designated walkway), Uraraka walked up to him.

“Wow,” she muttered, a sense of awe in her voice at the colorful crowd. “Is there a festival on?”

“Not quite,” Nue remarked from beside him, making her usual unannounced appearance. Uraraka, still unused to the prankster, jumped at her sudden arrival. “Concert tonight - the poltergeists, not that warbling ‘punk’ duo.”

“You’re not a fan of punk?” Izuku asked. “I’d have thought the genre would fit well with you.”

The chimeric youkai's monkey head materialized from the dark fog for the sole purpose of fixing him with an unblinking state for nearly twenty seconds.

“They scream sutras into the microphone,” she said flatly. “And the rest of their lyrics are either Kyouko complaining she has to sweep the temple yard, or Mystia complaining that she had a slow sales week. I don't see how any youkai can stand their music. The fights are fun, I guess.”

“We’re not really looking for a fight tonight,” Izuku said. “We get enough of that in the hero course.”

“They’re not playing tonight, anyways - they know they can’t compete. The Prismriver Concert’s free if you two lovebirds want to watch it,” Nue said, prompting a flustered reaction from the two of them. Izuku seized Uraraka’s hand to make sure the brunette didn’t accidentally float away, which only made her blush harder.

The unexplainable youkai barked out a laugh. “Seriously, you two are too easy. The girl I can understand, but how in hell are you Mamizou’s kid?”

“Where is she, anyway?” Izuku asked once he had recovered. He was fine talking to girls now (and had been for a while - he couldn't not be, with the overwhelmingly female youkai population), but Nue was good at pushing buttons.

“She’s organizing a tsukumogami night parade,” she replied. “That’ll be closer to the village if that's more your speed.”

“Don’t those kill people?”

“Kill?” Uraraka asked nervously.

Nue shrugged. “Eh, that’s only the really rowdy ones. Buncha dishware tsukumogami won’t be able to hurt a fly. Anyways, I wasn’t joking about the free concert if you’re interested in that stuff. I’m going to see if any of the vendors will see me as something or someone they’ll give free food to.”

As the unknowable youkai padded off in search of suckers, Izuku and Uraraka came to an unspoken agreement on which attraction they wanted to see. They took some spare seats near the back of the crowd, next to a pair of blue-haired girls who were happily chatting away.

The two girls made for an extremely odd pair - the first was dressed in extremely fine clothing: a white, button-up blouse tied at the collar with a red bow, a blue dress with a large blue bow tied onto the back for decoration, and a black hat decorated with a pair of peaches. Slightly at odds with the elegant ensemble was a pair of tall brown boots.

Her companion, on the other hand, was a stark contrast. Her hair, decorated with a ragged blue ribbon, was extremely unkempt, like it hadn’t been combed even once in her lifetime, and took on a life of its own towards the ends, resembling the tongues of a flickering blue flame more than something growing out of a human head. She wore nothing but a simple grey short-sleeved hoodie and blue skirt, both decorated liberally with what appeared to be repossession, debt, and eviction notices, and was completely barefoot. She clung to a small, chipped begging cup and a ragged, patched-up cat doll like they were her only possessions in the world.

The well-dressed one noticed them as they sat down, perking up. “Oh, hey, we’ve got newbies back here! Youkai or Outsiders?”

“Both, actually,” Izuku replied. Months spent training at the temple had long since eliminated any shyness he might have had. “Was it that obvious?”

“You’re sitting in the unofficial ‘youkai section’,” she explained with a grin. As a way of elaborating further, she gestured to the seats ahead of her, which were occupied by several bird-winged girls. 

“Plus she’s got wolf ears,” she added.

“I could just have a mutation quirk,” Uraraka pointed out.

“And that would have proved it. Quirks aren’t really a thing here.”

“Name’s Hinanawi Tenshi, by the way,” the girl added, proudly puffing out her chest. “I’m a Celestial.”

The ragged girl gave a wave with the hand holding the cup. “Yorigami Shion. I’m a binbougami.”

“A poverty goddess!?” Uraraka exclaimed, flinching away from the girl. She felt guilty almost the second she did so - the expression on Shion’s face made sure of it.

“She’s not that bad when you get used to her,” Tenshi asserted, grabbing Shion’s hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “She tries her best not to bring others misfortune - it just builds up inside her constantly, is the thing.”

“I’m getting better at keeping it in, though,” Shion said, looking a bit embarrassed at the topic. “Really!”

As if on cue, a small cloud of purple smoke popped out of her, rising into the air and strangely keeping its shape rather than dispersing into the air.

“Oops,” she said. “Don’t touch that.”

They sat there quietly for a moment, watching the cloud of misfortune drift off into the sky. Izuku winced as a fairy flew right through it, giggling happily. Nearly immediately afterwards, the fairy clipped a standing torch and careened into a tree, exploding into mist on impact.

“Anyways,” Tenshi said after a moment. “You’re in for a treat. The Prismriver Sisters are apparently extremely good musicians, and they managed to rope that drum tsukumogami into playing, too!”

“‘Apparently’?” Izuku asked, one eyebrow raised.

“I haven’t actually been to one of their concerts before,” Tenshi admitted. “Shion thought it would make a good date night for the two of us.”

“I actually met Tenshi because of one of these,” the poverty goddess said, smiling happily.

“Because of?” Izuku wondered. “Not ‘at’?”

Shion made an ‘urk’ noise and zipped behind Tenshi, who just put a finger to her chin in thought.

“You know, Shion, I don’t think you’ve ever told me why exactly you hunted me down. I mean, I’m happy you did, but I’m curious.”

The goddess let out a faint whimper and continued to hide behind her not-quite-human shield, cringing when the celestial turned to her.

“C’mon, I promise I won’t think badly of you. You know what I did - heck, I’m banned from heaven right now! I guarantee nothing you say will faze me.”

She clutched her ragged cat doll closer.

“Pleeeeease? I’ll take us by that soba shop in Old Hell you like.”

Sighing, Shion relented. “My sister, Joon, was the one who came up with the idea - we would set up Prismriver concerts to take advantage of their ability to stir up emotions.”

“Oh, huh, yeah, now that you mention it, I think I remember hearing something about a bunch of people cracking down on some concerts,” Tenshi said.

“How was hosting concerts bad, though?” Izuku asked.

“We’re goddesses of poverty,” Shion explained. “I’m an actual binbougami, while she’s a pestilence goddess with a very specific focus - she influences people to handle their money irresponsibly. Normally she can only affect one person at a time, but if they’re mentally vulnerable, it’s easier.”

“So you used the concerts as a way to rob people,” he realized.

The poverty goddess nodded. “When it blew up in our faces, Yukari made the two of us hunt down escapees from the Dream World. The final one was Tenshi’s dream version, and I realized how amazing Celestials are.”

Tenshi started laughing. “That’s all? And you were all worked up about it!”

“I helped rob everyone!” Shion exclaimed.

“That’s nothing! I destroyed the Hakurei Shrine, nearly destabilized the Barrier, and that’s not even what got me kicked out of heaven!”

“What  _ did _ ?” Uraraka wondered aloud.

“I ate all the dumplings they were going to serve at a banquet,” she replied, shrugging. “They didn’t even taste that good. I mean really, I’d understand if it was because I accidentally lost a seventh of heaven to that oni, but they don’t even seem to realize that happened. Or at least they don’t care about it.”

“What happened to Joon, then?” Izuku asked.

“I don’t know,” Shion admitted. “I lost touch with her after the Incident we caused - Byakuren took her in for training while I looked for Tenshi.”

Uraraka felt a pang of sadness within her.  _ She’s not even keeping tabs on her own little sister. _

“Don’t you sometimes wonder how she’s doing?” Izuku asked. “I mean, she  _ is _ your sister.”

The poverty goddess shook her head, a bittersweet smile on her face. “It’s… it’s better this way.”

Before Uraraka could say anything else, the lights dimmed, the torches to the sides of the audience extinguished by a hydrokinetic kappa who gave a big thumbs-up to one of her companions at the front of the crowd before sitting down. A set of electric lights blinked on at the front, illuminating a large red curtain that had been set up to provide a background for a sturdy-looking metal stage. On cue, a trio of girls floated onto the stage.

They wore matching outfits - a skirt, button-up shirt, and a pointed, frilled hat with an ornament at the tip. The only differences were their color schemes and ornamentation. The first, accompanied by a floating violin, wore a black outfit with white and red trim that made her chin-length blond hair stand out more, topping her hat with an ornamental crescent moon. The second, with wavy light-blue hair and a floating trumpet, wore a pink outfit topped with a blue sun and trimmed in blue, and the third wore a brilliant red ensemble decorated with a shooting star, the color standing out even more in comparison to her otherwise unremarkable light brown hair.

Apparently realizing she had forgotten her instrument, she put a hand to her mouth and let out a loud whistle, prompting a winged red electric keyboard to come flying in from offstage, to a mixture of chuckles and light applause from the audience. Without a spoken word, the poltergeists began to play.

Their song began with a combination of keyboard and strings, backed up by a light drumline that Uraraka pinpointed as coming from a redhead off to the side of the stage who seemed to be content to let the Prismrivers take the spotlight. It was a lovely piece, but nothing special so far, though she imagined that would soon change, if the crowd was anything to judge by.

And then, the other two sisters stopped playing and let the trumpeter begin a drum-backed solo.

The sky exploded in brilliant colored lights, a weaving mixture of red and blue orbs that rivaled any fireworks display back in the Outside World even before gleaming, unbroken lasers shot into the sky.

Taking a chance, Uraraka reached out and put an arm around Izuku, drawing him closer to her. To her delight, he did the same. As the other two sisters reentered the song, keyboard and violin mixing with the trumpet to form one melodious whole, they added their own displays to the mix, contributing colored arrowheads and yellow musical notes until the sky was filled with color, a disordered mess that was somehow beautiful all the same.

Maybe it wasn’t pure music at this point, but that was the point. The Prismrivers’ concert was as much a performance of their magical prowess as it was musical.

Uraraka and Izuku sat there, each enjoying the other’s presence as the performance went on through the night.

And if Mamizou was hiding in the bushes nearby and had slipped a payment to the sisters to arrange the whole concert on short notice?

Well, nobody needed to know why she had done that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Let's commit to doing a date chapter" - me, an idiot who has never been on a date or indeed in a relationship at all and has no faith in his ability to write a ship why did I do this.
> 
> I absolutely, absolutely love the theming of the Yorigami sisters - Joon is based on the real estate bubble Japan had in the 80s, and has gaudy, flashy, 'rich girl' type clothes in keeping with the wealth of that time. Her sister Shion is based on the "lost decade" of economic stagnation that followed when the bubble finally popped. Crucially, neither of them can actually keep their money - Shion's a poverty goddess and just can't, while Joon, much like the bubble, is great at getting people to give her money, but eventually wastes it all and ends up broke all the same.
> 
> The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons is said in some myths to cause any witnesses to die from fright, which is what Izuku's referring to. Sometimes they spirit people away instead, and the tsukumogami night parade in Touhou is seen a few times without any ill effect.


	24. the Legend of KAGE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Post-Internship Rescue Race occurs, and Izuku gets some answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7,900 hits - I'm pretty much positive it's speeding up now. Hopefully things continue to be interesting, I've had some of these later parts stewing in my head for ages.
> 
> Chapter title is the final stretch of Makai levels in Highly Responsive to Prayers, leading up to... well.

Izuku and Uraraka stayed at their seats as the crowd began to trickle out after the concert’s end. A few people also lingered, notably a few other musicians who ran up to the Prismrivers and excitedly began to talk with the sisters - whether they were other poltergeists or instrument tsukumogami, Uraraka wasn’t quite sure. She imagined Izuku would likely be able to identify them, if asked.

“Hey, Deku?”

“Yeah?”

“What was that the band was doing during the concert? Like fireworks?”

“Mamizou told me about it once - it’s called danmaku, they’re magical projectiles used for nonlethal dueling. Yanagi uses it too, I’m pretty sure, though I think it’s a modified form.”

He winced at the memory of the magician’s attempt at youkai extermination.

“Why don’t you use it, then?”

Giving an embarrassed shrug, he replied, “I only got my youkai powers a few months before UA’s entrance exams, there wasn’t enough time for me to learn danmaku, hand-to-hand,  _ and _ my Ability.”

“Wait, hand-to-hand? You thought you were Quirkless, wanted to get into UA, and didn’t do any sort of training for it until you had less than a year till the deadline?”

Izuku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“Deku!”

“I know, I know, it was dumb!” he exclaimed, bowing his head. “I didn’t know what sort of test UA would have and thought it was just going to be an academic exam, like other high schools!”

“Well, I’m happy you managed to make it in,” Uraraka said. “You’re an amazing person.”

He smiled at her. “Thanks, Uraraka.”

One of the Kappa techs walked up to the stage and hit a button on the side of it, causing the metal structure to compact itself neatly into a suitcase. She gave a thumbs-up to the rest of the crew, either not noticing or not caring that the unused pyrotechnics built into the thing were apparently going off, causing the container to emit sparks and glow with heat.

“I was wondering how they’d move that,” Izuku muttered to himself. “Is that purely a technological device, or is magic involved as well? There’s even the possibility that it’s purely magical, though I imagine that apparent misfire wouldn’t have occurred in a magical system - then again, I don’t have enough knowledge on magic to know for sure, I should look into seeing if Byakuren can give me focused lessons at some point, considering she apparently became a Youkai through her magic. Then again, perhaps a more focused perspective would be useful? I’ve heard of a puppeteer living in the forest who mi-”

A piercing howl cut through the night. Unlike before, she could sense meaning in it, a clear message:

_ “ _ _ Hello there. _ _ ” _

Uraraka’s head shot up instantly, whipping back and forth frantically as she searched for the source - with how loud it had been, it had to have been nearby.

Izuku took her hand, a comforting warmth as he reminded her she wasn’t alone. “What is it?”

She locked eyes with a woman wearing a long red dress, decorated with a large white circle evocative of the full moon and a line of black trim along the bottom. Long, dark auburn hair flowed down from the woman’s head to around waist level, and two wolf ears protruded from the top of her head, but most striking were her brilliant red eyes.

Uraraka  _ knew _ those eyes.

“I think that’s the person who made me a werewolf.”

The woman smiled at her before turning and walking into the forest.

“You don’t have to follow her if you don’t want to,” Izuku said. “But I’ll be with you, if you want me to.”

She nodded, her resolve set.

* * *

The wolf-woman was waiting for them in a small clearing that was still within sight of the lights from the temple. Izuku relaxed slightly at this - if she had been trying to lead them into a trap, she would have gone farther.

“I thought you were a werewolf,” she said, smiling at Uraraka. Her teeth were just a bit sharper than a normal human’s would be. “You don’t have the same scent to you that the tengu do.”

Uraraka growled, claws out in a flash. “Why?” she demanded.

The other werewolf seemed genuinely confused at the question. “I thought it would be nice to meet another werewolf - you don’t see many of us around.”

“So you  _ bit me _ and turned me into one!?”

The woman looked horrified as Uraraka’s words sank in. “I… I turned you?”

The gravity user just glared at the werewolf.

“Oh no. No, I… I try to stay away from people during the full moon, so I can run wild where nobody’s in danger, how did this happen…”

“You didn’t even try to avoid me!” Uraraka roared. “You went straight for me!”

This snapped her out of it. “Wait,” the werewolf said, “You were the one I ran into in the Bamboo Forest a little over a month ago. The one who vanished when I bit you - I thought you were a ghost when that happened, but you’re from the Outside World, aren’t you?”

“She is,” Izuku confirmed. “Both of us are.”

“My name is Imaizumi Kagerou - anything you need to know about being a werewolf, I can tell you, okay? Anything you need.”

“Why are you so helpful all of a sudden?” Uraraka demanded. “You attack me without provocation, lure me into the woods, and now you expect me to just trust you?”

“Because I used to be a Human myself!” Kagerou shot back. “I’ve been a werewolf for nearly seventy years now, and the one who turned me got himself exterminated less than ten minutes later! I had to figure everything out on my own, and I don’t want you to have to do the same! It’s bad enough that you’ll be an outcast!”

“You’re seventy?” The brunette asked after a moment of silence.

“Youkai don’t age like humans do,” The older werewolf replied. “I don’t know how much your friend has told you, but we’re beings of belief rather than flesh. Physical attacks are far less effective against us, and many of the weaknesses of humans simply don’t apply.”

“...what sorts of weaknesses?”

* * *

“Now that you’ve had some time to recover from that surprisingly eventful Internship week,” All Might announced, “It’s time we had a more relaxing Hero activity: a rescue race!”

“Sir, isn’t the USJ constructed specifically for rescues?” Iida asked. “Why are we still on the main campus?”

“You’re correct, young Iida,” the Hero replied, “But remember - this is also a race! The USJ is constructed for disaster relief scenarios, when the worst has already occured, but the purpose of this exercise is for training your ability to respond to an event! Heroes rarely enjoy the luxury of acting before Villains, and there will undoubtedly come a time in every one of your careers when you have to simply get to where you are needed as quickly as possible.”

“Like when the rest of UA Faculty rushed to USJ,” Izuku added.

“Precisely so, young Midoriya! In situations like that, the most important task is simply to reach the destination so you can stop the situation from worsening!”

The teacher gestured to the sprawling industrial landscape behind him. “Field Gamma provides an ideal training ground for such situations - it’s a veritable maze of alleyways against the backdrop of a simulated manufacturing district! Your goal will be to reach a distress signal somewhere within the field. Naturally, since this scenario is a race to  _ prevent _ the situation from worsening, try to avoid property damage.”

“What the hell are you pointing at me for?” Bakugou demanded. All Might ignored him.

“You’ll be split into groups of five for this exercise, but don’t view this as a purely competitive event. Think of it as a way to both apply what you’ve learned over your internships, as well as see what others did.”

* * *

Uraraka took her position at the starting grid with the rest of her group - Asui, Aoyama, Yaoyorozu, and Reiko.

“Man, I wouldn’t say they’re the  _ most _ mobile members of our class, but they’re still pretty mobile, huh?” Kirishima wondered from the sidelines.

“Indeed,” Tokoyami replied. “Our class has a number of extremely versatile Quirks - even those not wholly specialized in mobility have their own tricks to enhance their navigation.”

Tensing her legs slightly, she tuned out the chatter, preparing for the starting signal. The moment the map lit up with their destination, she slapped her leg, activating her Quirk before shooting off into the sky like a rocket.

_ “First off, as I’m sure you noticed, you’re stronger and faster than you were before,” Kagerou explained. “You’ll be able to make leaps beyond what a normal person could ever dream of - even better during the full moon.” _

_ “What happens during the full moon?” _

_ “It gives us energy, fills us with vigor and strength. In exchange, we get more excitable. Nothing like the blind frenzy you went into the first time you changed, it’s more like the feeling you get when you’re well-rested and have been cooped up inside all day. I try to stay away from others during that time as much to avoid accidentally attacking them as…” _

_ “As what?” _

_ “We get all hairy during the full moon,” Kagerou said, burying her face in her hands. “It’s embarrassing.” _

Uraraka was no stranger to flying through the sky - she had done so the day she got her Quirk, and only come down after her panicked parents had enlisted the aid of a local Hero with control of ropes. Despite that initial incident (and her Quirk’s unfortunate side effect of nausea), she had loved the feeling of soaring through the air ever since, though she was forced to be careful about her landing sites.

She tapped her fingertips together before she could get too high, cancelling her Quirk’s effect as she dropped from the sky like a meteor, shooting straight for a concrete rooftop that she hoped was sturdy enough to withstand her landing. She landed hard, cracking the roof and sliding clumsily towards the edge.

_ "Durability-wise, we're one of the tougher sorts out there. You won't be able to take on an Oni, but you should be fine in most fights you'll run into. On top of that, we should really thank the Humans at some point." _

_ "Why's that?" Uraraka asked. "You said they nearly drove Japan's werewolves extinct." _

_ "Well, yes, but at some point they decided we could  _ _ regenerate _ _ ," The werewolf replied with a grin. _

Bestial claws dug furrows into the rooftop as she scraped to a stop, silently hoping All Might wouldn’t ding her  _ too _ many points for the damage. As she aligned herself for another leap, she spotted Reiko zipping past overhead, as well as Asui making surprisingly good time with significantly more restrained, though still impressive, leaps of her own. Clearly, taking to the skies was the most effective way to approach the mission, bypassing the tangled maze of concrete below.

She slapped a hand to her leg once more, forcing gravity to relinquish its hold over her as she took to the sky once more. Once, she would have been cautious about use of her Quirk in such a fashion, would have been more restrained in her usage of its effects and moved more slowly to minimize any nausea that arose. Those worries were behind her now.

_ "What about nausea?" Uraraka asked, "or motion sickness?" _

_ "What's motion sickness?" _

After all, who ever heard of a werewolf getting nauseous?

* * *

Izuku was up next, as part of a group with Iida, Ojiro, Ashido, and Sero. It was a tough group - most of the more obviously mobility-focused quirks in the class were with him. Were he faster or stronger, he'd consider Uraraka’s approach, but there wasn't enough fear in the air to draw on for enhancement, and he hadn’t been practicing it as much as he probably should have - his time had been primarily occupied with frustrated attempts to figure out how to replicate his Ability’s weirder effects. He was, unfortunately, no closer to figuring out how to turn ‘transform objects’ into teleportation. He didn’t want to even  _ try  _ to reproduce whatever Yukari had done.

Iida took off the instant the target location was displayed, followed by Sero less than a second later. Ojiro took slightly longer, spending more time plotting a course he could use his Tail to assist with, and left at the same time as Izuku.

Izuku’s plan was simple, yet required careful usage of his Ability: in order to make up for his lack of speed and aerial mobility, he would simply transform the walls around him, creating openings and sealing the structures back up behind him to avoid property damage. It was the same idea he had used to exit Mongaza Hospital without triggering the alarms, but faster than before. He doubted he’d be able to beat Sero, but Iida was stuck navigating the narrow streets and neither Ojiro nor Ashido had the same speed as the tape user.

The walls of the first warehouse parted to allow him passage as he sprinted through onto the empty manufacturing floor - UA apparently wasn’t quite able to actually fill every mock factory with expensive equipment. He heard a heavy  _ thunk _ from the roof of the warehouse as someone landed, spotting Ashido’s silhouette sliding along the rooftop through the tinted windows intended to lessen the need for electrical lighting.

_ She uses her Acid to skate, _ he recalled. Reducing friction with the ground, allowing the user to conserve energy and spend time resting while on the move - it was an excellent tactic.

Focusing his Ability at his feet, he liquified the ground in only a thin layer, trying to pulse his Ability on and off to avoid falling through the floor. Slowly at first, but getting faster as he grew more comfortable with the trick, he tried to adapt her style and improve upon it - looking back, he noted with satisfaction that he had been able to restore the flooring behind him as though he was never there. With another wall looming, he focused his Ability all around him to shift the wall and allow him passage as he slid along.

He promptly fell through the floor into the sewer system.

He ended up getting last place in the race.

* * *

Izuku stopped Reiko as she left UA at the end of the day.

“Yanagi, do you have any knowledge of Makai?”

“Outside of the very basics, those being that it is a separate dimension home to the Demon race and their Goddess, no. Why do you ask?”

“I asked around about the creature that attacked USJ, and Hakurei identified it as a Demon she fought in the past.”

“Hakurei?” Uraraka asked.

“Basically Gensokyo’s equivalent to All Might,” Reiko explained. “While I haven’t seen her in action myself, my understanding is that if anyone stirs up trouble, she’s the one who resolves it. Apparently nearly everyone in Gensokyo’s lost to her at some point.”

“Everyone?” Izuku wondered. “Even-” Reiko’s hand immediately shot out to cover his mouth.

“ _ Don’t. Say. Her. Name, _ ” She hissed. “But yes, apparently even she’s lost to the shrine maiden.”

“What sort of Ability do you have to take on that sort of monster?”

“Apparently, the ‘Ability to Float’,” Reiko replied. “Coupled with absolutely monstrous natural talent and incredible intuition.”

“I wonder what she’s like,” Uraraka said in a hushed tone. “I don’t really have a good sense of how powerful youkai tend to be yet, but if you two are impressed, then she’s got to be something special.”

“She’s… way less impressive in person,” Izuku admitted. “Mostly she struck me as kind of lazy? Mamizou had to bribe her with alcohol to get her to even leave the shrine.”

Reiko rolled her eyes. “She deals with uppity youkai on a regular basis - I’d be irritable too, in her position. It’s already bad enough having to deal with my teacher, I can’t imagine what it’s like having to knock heads together every time some youkai decides to blot out the sun because they want it to be a little darker.”

“Has someone actually done that?”

“Yes. Thankfully, before I got stuck there. But back to the initial question - so, what, you’re going to ask her about Makai?”

“I was going to go with Miss Hijiri - Mamizou said she spent years sealed away in Makai, so I’m hoping she’ll be able to help.”

Reiko shrugged. “She’s definitely more likely to be useful than Hakurei, that’s for sure. Wait for me - I want to know what we’re up against.”

* * *

The group was seated in the main dining hall of the Myouren Temple, a relatively humble setting consisting of plain tables and simple, undecorated cushions for visitors to sit on.

“The Demon that attacked this ‘USJ’ of yours isn’t familiar to me,” Byakuren admitted with an apologetic look, “But the other one - you said she had blonde hair, bat wings, and a red star tattoo?”

Uraraka nodded. “You know her?”

“Only by reputation, but unfortunately, yes,” the monk replied. “Her name is Elis - she was one of the leaders of a rebellion that attempted to overthrow Shinki, the ruler of Makai. From what I’ve heard of her, she was a deeply unpleasant individual.”

Uraraka shuddered at the memory of the psychotic demon.

“Any idea what she’d want from the Outside World?” Izuku asked.

Byakuren shook her head. “From what news was able to reach me in Hokkai, she was thought to have been destroyed when their rebellion failed.”

“We need to know what she’s capable of,” Reiko insisted. “Do you know any way we can get to Makai? I know you may not want to go back, but if this ‘Elis’ is loose in our world, we need to be able to deal with her.”

Byakuren smiled at the group before rising to her feet. “Shou,” she called, loudly but politely.

Before long, a woman with tigerlike black and orange-striped hair appeared at the doorway. She carried a spear and a looping sash that reminded Izuku of statues of the god Bishamonten. “Yes, Lady Hijiri?”

“Tell Murasa to begin preparations to cast off for Pandemonium.”

The tiger youkai raised an eyebrow but made no objection. “At once, Lady Hijiri.”

“What was that about?” Reiko wondered.

“The Myouren Temple was not always in its current location - nor its current form,” Byakuren admitted with a slight smile that made it clear that the monk was enjoying showing off despite herself. “In its former life, my followers made use of it to voyage to Makai and rescue me - they called it the Palanquin Ship.”

The entire room - no, the entire temple - began to shake as a low rumble could be heard from outside. Uraraka jumped as a girl with short black hair and teal eyes stuck her head through the wall. A white sailor’s cap, dripping with what seemed to be seawater, rested atop the pale bluish-grey of drowned flesh.

“We’re away, Lady Hijiri,” the phantom announced. “The voyage should be no longer than an hour unless the shrine maiden decides we’re up to no good.”

Byakuren nodded. “Thank you, Captain Murasa.”

“Was she a Funayurei?” Izuku asked.

“Indeed she was,” the monk replied, smiling. “She was one of the youkai I ‘exterminated’ back when I was masquerading as an exorcist. Like other Funayurei, she was bound to the seas around where she died, and motivated entirely out of a need to take revenge upon any who dared to venture into her territory.”

“Funayurei would appear late at night on unwary ships, especially during storms,” Reiko explained, a dark grin on her face as she built up the scenario for Uraraka. “You’d be going through a storm and desperately trying to stay afloat, the elements themselves demanding,  _ insisting _ , that you sink to the ocean floor, and you’d hear someone - one of your shipmates, perhaps, calling out-”

“A ladle! I need a ladle!” Murasa suddenly cried from behind Uraraka, droplets of seawater dripping from her outstretched arms onto the poor girl’s shoulders. The brunette leapt up from her seat with a shriek, passing through the ghost’s arms and soaking her clothes further.

Rolling his eyes, Izuku grabbed one of his costume’s promissory notes and transformed it into a ladle before handing it to Murasa. The ghost looked through the massive hole in the bottom with a chuckle. “You know your folklore, I see.”

“The way you traditionally handle a Funayurei,” Izuku explained to Uraraka, “is to hand them a ladle with no bottom. If you give them a normal ladle, they’ll use it to bail water into your boat faster than you can get rid of it, but if there’s a hole in it, they’ll be unable to sink you.”

“I carry my own ladle to get around that,” Murasa added with a snicker.

“Because of that,” Byakuren said, continuing her story, “The villagers in the area Murasa haunted soon realized they were unable to deal with her on their own and sought me out. I set out to sea to challenge her, and she showed up to confront me just as I had hoped.”

“I knew of Lady Hijiri by reputation even then,” the phantom recalled. “Even through my hatred and resentment, I had heard of her. I hoped that by killing her, I could grow powerful enough to begin drowning even those who stayed on land. She came out in a small fishing boat, and I sank it without effort. Just when I was exulting in my victory, she rose from the ocean floor atop a gleaming ship - an exact replica of the one I had died on.”

“I offered Murasa the opportunity to captain the ship, and she accepted. I still view her as my greatest triumph, if I’m being honest,” The monk said. “A ghost who lived only to take revenge upon the living, freed of her terrible burden and able to live a life of her own once more.”

“A pity the Humans didn’t see it that way,” Murasa grumbled.

* * *

Despite concerns that Reimu would show up to attack the Palanquin Ship, the rest of the voyage to Makai went uneventfully. They arrived over a sea of glass, following a path of crystalline spires that rose from the gleaming plain into the sky.

“They’re as much for guidance as they are watchtowers,” Byakuren explained. “Pandemonium is Shinki’s seat of power, and demons from the entirety of Makai journey here to see their goddess.”

Before long, the ship arrived at a massive fortress of brilliant crystal, rising into the sky and dwarfing any fortifications Izuku had seen in the Outside World.

“We won’t be able to get any closer - the residents of Makai have been on edge about visitors for the past few years.”

“Why?” Izuku wondered. If they were only nervous about visitors recently, something major must have happened.

“Because,” Byakuren replied, “Hakurei Reimu journeyed to Makai on her own and fought their goddess to a standstill in a magical duel that devastated the entire realm.”

* * *

Izuku wasn’t sure what he expected from the goddess who created demonkind. A tall, horned figure with red skin who bathed in flames, perhaps. Certainly not the humble figure before them.

Shinki wore simple, red robes with little decoration to them, had plain blue eyes that would not have been out of place on a normal human, and her long white hair had a single side tail fastened into place with an ornament that resembled two large red beads and wouldn’t have been out of place in a store in the Outside World. If not for her imposing wings - six large, jagged, purple wings with spiraling red patterns on them - he could have mistaken her for a mother picking up her kids from elementary school.

Behind the goddess was her attendant, who had met them at the gate and guided them to the throne room - a similarly human-looking woman with long blonde hair, yellow eyes, and a red and white maid outfit, looking for all the world like she simply wanted to run the lot of them through for the grand crime of intruding upon her goddess.

“Byakuren,” Shinki said, in a warm, calm voice, “It’s a pleasure to see you again after so long - I’m sorry I was unable to come out to Hokkai more often, but I’m overjoyed to learn that your followers finally rescued you.”

“You’re too kind, Lady Shinki,” Byakuren replied, “I was humbled that you saw fit to grace me with your presence during my exile. How has the reconstruction fared?”

“Every day we find something else that Hakurei broke, it seems,” the goddess admitted with a sigh. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper with the girl - so much devastation over a simple matter.”

“What matter would this be?” Reiko wondered.

“I was sending Demons to tour Gensokyo,” Shinki confessed. “Some of my children wished to see other worlds, and I neglected to consider how it would look to those other realms when large numbers of Makaians would arrive in their lands.”

“You were faultless, Lady Shinki,” the maid said firmly. “The benefits those other realms would have seen from our tourism would have enriched us all and led to stronger bonds between us all.”

“While that could have been an outcome, Yumeko, ultimately my rash decision brought devastation upon Makai.”

“...could she have come for allies of hers that were stranded following the tourism incident? No, it’s unlikely that any sympathizers would have ended up in the Outside World, even if they had managed to make it to Gensokyo. Elis must have some-”

If looks could kill, the glare Yumeko shot Izuku’s way would have been sufficient to wipe out several countries. “ _ Where did you hear that name, Youkai? _ ” She said, her voice a cold, furious whisper.

“She’s active in the Outside World,” Byakuren explained. “These three came seeking information about her - they’ve fought her before.”

“Not just her,” Reiko added. “A woman made of electricity arcing between five brass eyes, as well.”

“YuugenMagan,” Shinki said.

“Will that  _ cockroach _ never die?” Yumeko hissed.

“So you know them - what can they do? What would they be after in the Outside World?”

“YuugenMagan was originally an Onryo,” the maid explained, “With all that would mean. She grows in strength with how much she hates someone. At her weakest, she’s only got her base demonic abilities. At strongest - we abandoned Vina because of her.”

“Then it’s good we got rid of her while she was still weak,” Reiko commented.

“She’s still alive,” Yumeko replied. “We thought her destroyed more times than we could count. Eventually it became policy to simply assume she’d be turning up in the next battle regardless. Assume she’s still active, and plan accordingly.”

“And Elis?” Izuku pressed. “She’s become more active recently - Uraraka fought her little more than a week ago.”

“A vile, sadistic woman, executed by the Greeks for witchcraft. She specializes in Planar Magic, a strange discipline where she temporarily forces multiple dimensions into existing in one place. She’s very much the standard mage - devastating at range, worthless up close - but she’s slippery. If you get a chance to catch her,  _ take it _ .”

“Do all Demons come from the deceased?” Reiko wondered.

“Those two are… exceptions,” Yumeko said carefully. “The vast majority of us were created by Lady Shinki herself.”

“Any idea what Elis would want in the Outside World?” Izuku asked. “Is it possible she’s trying to create more Demons like herself?”

“I don’t know,” She replied quickly. Too quickly.

“She called us ‘tributes’,” Uraraka remembered. “Tributes for  _ what _ ?”

Shinki took a breath. “I need you all to understand that my actions were only ever done out of love.”

Yumeko looked panicked. “Lady Shinki, you don’t owe it to these outsiders to-”

“But I do, Yumeko. My mistakes led to this. I am not someone who would close myself off from others and pretend to be faultless.”

She held up a hand to silence the maid’s impending objection. “I am a goddess, yes. That does not absolve me of blame. Yumeko is correct that Elis and YuugenMagan are exceptions among Demonkind. The reason for that is simple: I did not create them. The Demons that I created personally were born from my mind alone, ideas and personalities birthed from nothingness to populate Makai.”

“I love all my children, with all my heart,” Shinki continued. “I couldn’t bear the thought of them dying. But for all my power, creating a truly deathless being was beyond me. I couldn’t make a creature that would be able to enjoy a life without the specter of death haunting them. Until I found a way around that.”

“What did you do?” Reiko asked, an edge to her tone.

“Something very stupid,” the goddess said, sadly.

“What did you  _ DO _ !?” The magician screamed.

“I took Makai’s concept of Mortality and molded it into a Demon,” Shinki confessed. “The  _ first _ Demon. The Firstborn of Makai:”

“Sariel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny enough, I don't think there's any actual werewolf myths where they regenerate? At least, nothing in the wikipedia article on the subject - I've never been too good with more western mythical creatures, my passion is for youkai. In D&D they totally regenerate, though, and that seems to have propagated through a lot of the more modern depictions.
> 
> Considering how many members of Byakuren's temple have either confirmed or implied kills, it's sorta understandable why the humans decided to seal her away. Only sort of, considering she definitely did a lot of good by getting her followers to see the error of their ways.
> 
> The Ruins of Vina are a location visited in Highly Responsive to Prayers, specifically the region where Elis is fought.


	25. Lunatic Eyes ~ Invisible Full Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More answers from Shinki, and 1-A moves into their new dorms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just shy of 8.5k hits, one kudo shy of 300, this is the chapter of milestones that are missed by the narrowest of margins. Well, all of these milestones are ultimately arbitrary constructions chosen because they're nice, round numbers. What does it really matter that I'm only at 8,490 hits? That's still a staggering amount more than I had ever thought I'd get.

Reiko was quiet for a moment as Shinki's statement sank in.

“Is that bad?” Uraraka whispered. “I don’t have context for this kind of stuff yet.”

“Yeah,” Reiko said faintly. “Yeah, it’s bad. If Sariel was molded from a concept, it’s likely they can act on concepts, too.”

The goddess nodded. “Sariel acts on the idea of Mortality, much like how one of the Sages of Gensokyo can act on the idea of Boundaries. Before their rebellion, they were fond of using their powers to make the flames of a candle die out when leaving a room, or to silence a speech that had gone on too long.”

With a sad smile, she added, “Sariel was never particularly fond of the more... zealous residents of Makai. They viewed the insistent worship as going against my reasons for creating the realm in the first place.”

“How so?” Izuku wondered.

“Lady Shinki is a kind goddess,” Yumeko explained. “She asks us for nothing in return for the world she gave us. It’s no surprise that this led to Makaian society eventually structuring itself around Lady Shinki’s rulership, but Sariel was always of the opinion that we should govern ourselves.”

“So they rebelled in order to remove Shinki from power?”

“Whatever the motivations behind their rebellion were, they don’t matter,” the maid asserted. “Sariel made no efforts to preserve infrastructure or turn others to their side once their war was in full swing. From the moment they began their rebellion until the moment Lady Shinki struck them down, their goal was nothing less than the annihilation of all Demonkind.”

“Elis managed to slink off during the final battle,” Shinki said, a note of regret to her voice, “And YuugenMagan was presumed destroyed, since she made no appearances after that. I sealed Sariel away behind the strongest wards I could create, isolating their resting place from the rest of Makai.”

“You didn’t destroy Sariel?” Reiko asked, disbelief clear in her tone.

“Sariel is Mortality itself,” the Goddess replied. “You could no more kill them than you could drown the oceans, suffocate the sky, or burn a star. Their return was inevitable - a question of  _ when _ , not if. With Elis gone and the remainder of Sariel’s followers destroyed, their prison should have been perfect.”

“But Elis survived, and is now in our world. And if her actions are anything to judge by, she has a way to release Sariel.”

Shinki nodded gravely. “I had hoped that there might still be some shred of good within Sariel - I intended to visit them once they had recovered, to see if they were truly beyond help. That, it would seem, is no longer an option.”

The goddess looked at all three of the heroes in training with a conviction that made it clear why her kind inspired worship. “The easiest way for you to save your world is one that I wish I didn't have to burden you with - force Elis into a confrontation and destroy her before she can achieve her goals.”

Reiko raised an eyebrow. “And if we’re too late?”

“Then you will need to find a way to destroy Sariel’s physical form and banish them back to Makai.”

* * *

“Conceptual powers, huh?” Mamizou asked, scratching her chin thoughtfully.

“Yeah,” Izuku replied. “Shinki said this ‘Sariel’ can manipulate mortality - I was hoping you had some advice for dealing with that sort of thing.”

“Or better yet, a sparring partner,” Uraraka added.

“I can think of a number of candidates right now,” The tanuki said. “Problem is, most of them are hard to pin down, and the one who’s got a reliable location has a job and doesn’t get much time off.”

“So that’s a no, then?”

“I never said that,” she replied with a grin. “I just need a bit of time - I think I’ve got the perfect starting opponent for you two.”

* * *

Nezu looked over the diagrams he held in his paws one more time, just to be absolutely sure his designs were correct. Or, at least as correct as they could be when he was trying to rediscover a lost art.

Though only a few weeks had passed since Yanagi and Midoriya had brought him into the loop, the principal had devoted every moment of his free time to researching magic. It was a daunting task - over time, the literature on the subject had become diluted, the useful scraps buried under countless fantasy novels and new age spiritualism that he imagined would be of little help against Youkai.

The design he was looking at was a particular nightmare that had taken him nearly two days to come up with: a mixture of sutras that made consistent appearances in stories of youkai exterminations, carefully arranged in keeping with the instructions of an obscure 9th-century tome and further enhanced by several inscriptions of praise to various kami who governed aspects of warfare. A note he had added to the document laid out a mix of esoteric materials purported to be of use against the supernatural, their proportions carefully calculated to yield maximum efficacy.

In theory.

Yanagi would doubtlessly be able to point out the flaws in his design immediately, Nezu imagined, but he knew she would view his plan as an unacceptable risk. Uraraka's case of lycanthropy was more than enough for the principal to know his contingency was necessary.

He clicked send.

Less than a minute later, his office phone rang.

He cut straight to the point the moment he picked up. “How quickly can you have the new equipment ready?”

“It may take some time,” the caller replied in fluent, though accented, Japanese. “Our normal acquisition channels don’t cover most of the items you’ve requested. If I could substitute some of them-”

The principal’s reply was firm. “No. I don’t know what it is that makes these specific materials work, so until I can find out more it’s best to stick to this as closely as possible.”

“Very well. I should be able to have the new suit ready within a month.”

“Thank you, Doctor Shield.”

* * *

As if sensing their concerns, Elis laid low after her attack on the prison. A full month passed after the internships with no incident and not a single sign from the demon or the Villains she had allied with.

Reiko summarized her concerns extremely succinctly. “I don’t like this.”

“I have to agree,” Nezu replied. “The League’s pattern, as much as something can be said to be a ‘pattern’ from only two incidents, is to only attack when they think they have the advantage. They’re building up to something big.”

“From what we’ve been able to gather, the League’s been on another recruitment drive,” Tsukauchi added. “Unfortunately, they seem to have set their sights higher than for the USJ attack - none of our informants have been able to actually get into a meeting with the League’s leadership.”

“It’s a logical choice,” Aizawa admitted. “Their attack on USJ was easily defeated - they need actual threats, rather than as many street thugs as they could find on short notice.”

“Yes, but that ultimately leaves us with little information regarding their plans,” the principal sighed. “Even knowing who they were recruiting would give us little information on that front. Shigaraki and Kurogiri alone give them enough versatility for most attacks they could try. Our only real option is to increase security for anything happening off-campus.”

* * *

Leaning back on the couch, Elis gave a lazy yawn as she stretched her arms above her head. Spreading her wings and giving them a single flap, she straightened up and gave the trenchcoat-clad villain in front of her a critical look.

“So, you’re a magician, huh?”

“Of course,” he replied easily. “I’m an illusionist by trade - my skills in that regard can easily transfer over to-”

“Show me,” she demanded, staring at his mask with a look that told him she was clearly unimpressed. “I’ve seen far too many ‘magicians’ who focus on flash over function. Your… attire,” she gestured at his top hat, ornamented with a feather, “doesn’t inspire confidence, ‘Mr. Compress’.”

Compress shot Kurogiri a wayward glance, concealed by his mask. The League’s bartender showed no sign of objecting to her request. He turned his attention back to the demon, not that she could see him looking away.

She raised an eyebrow. “Well?”

“I’ll need something to demonstrate on,” he requested, and she had placed a strange, runed stone onto the table before he had even finished his sentence.

“I’m waiting.”

Rolling up his sleeves, he deftly compressed the stone with his Quirk, slipping the marble into his palm in one smooth, quick motion. Clasping his hands together, he easily and slowly opened them to reveal his empty hands.

“As you can see, I’m skilled at deception,” he offered confidently. “My Quirk can be used for infiltration just as easily as-”

Before he could even flinch, she had leapt from her sitting position and swung a comedically stereotypical star-tipped magic wand through the air, slicing through his mask and leaving a deep cut on his cheek. His blood dripped from the star’s topmost point.

“You’re a charlatan,” she hissed, eyes gleaming with cold rage. “An entertainer, not a magician.”

“Magic is a form of showmanship, of misdirection!” he desperately attempted. “Of course I’m an entertainer - it’s not like anyone could actually-” 

He was cut off as she pressed the star’s tip to his throat, leaning in so close their noses were almost touching as she bared inhuman fangs at him. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you right now, worm.”

Compress carefully, inched his hand closer to her. In one quick move he could compress her torso - a fatal injury. Then he just needed to run for the door and hope the League’s bartender wasn’t as outright-

“MISS ELIS!” Kurogiri bellowed, shadowy fog pouring from him and engulfing the demonic woman’s arm, depositing it on the other side of the room, safely away from the magician-themed villain. “Control yourself!”

“You asked me to evaluate him,” she growled, bristling. “He’s no magician.”

“I’ve seen enough to know he’s  _ useful _ ,” the bartender retorted, “And so we’ll be employing his services.”

“Fine,” she relented, still glaring at the hapless villain. “But since you think so highly of him, surely you think he can handle himself.”

“I do,” Kurogiri stated simply.

Shimmering like a mirage, she disappeared.

“I truly apologize for Miss Elis’s behavior,” the misty villain said, giving a deep bow. “I hope you can overlook this and work with us regardless - her opinions aside, you would be an invaluable addition to our group.”

Compress took a moment to think very carefully before replying. “Guarantee she doesn’t try anything like that again, and I’m in.”

“You’re lucky you guys made a good impression during Hosu,” he added under his breath.

* * *

“Right, then,” Mamizou chuckled, lighting her kiseru. “It took a bit of doing, but I managed to get yer new instructor’s schedule to open up. You two are gonna get yer first experience with concept manipulation today.”

An ambiguous figure clad in a bamboo hat and plain blue samue suddenly and loudly placed a large box on the ground next to one of the graves, making both Izuku and Uraraka jump. Neither of them had heard the newcomer approach.

“They’re all yers,” the Tanuki offered, loudly popping a cork off of her container of sake.

“Just to clarify, Miss Futatsuiwa,” their instructor asked, “you said Banquet rules, yes?”

Her voice was familiar, tantalizingly so - like he had heard it before, but was now trying to identify who it was while listening to it underwater.

Mamizou nodded. “It’s a better match for the sort of fighting they’re gonna be doing.”

“Banquet rules?” Izuku asked.

“More properly, ‘full contact danmaku’,” the tanuki explained. “Folks usually call it ‘Banquet rules’ because the first time they got broken out was during Suika’s Incident, when she tricked half of Gensokyo into throwing massive parties every night. Just like proper danmaku, it’s a system of formalized dueling to prevent people from leaving a massive body count when they fight - you’ll just be sore in the morning once yer teacher here finishes mopping the floor with you.”

The samue-clad newcomer smiled, tilting her head up just enough for Izuku to glimpse her mouth under the brim of their hat. “Any time you two are ready,” she offered.

Uraraka sprang into action immediately, leaping from a standing position with a swiftness that Izuku imagined could even pass Iida in short bursts. She leapt through the figure’s body entirely, their opponent vanishing the moment the werewolf’s claws brushed her. Immediately, she doubled over like someone had kneed her in the stomach, before being flipped in a one-woman judo throw, landing roughly on her back.

Izuku immediately changed the ground around him to mud, operating on the assumption that their opponent was invisible. As Uraraka scrambled to her feet, he moved to help her up and guard her in case their unseen foe returned.

“Are you okay?” he asked, scanning the graveyard for any sign of movement. A brief flash of red drew his attention, but turned out to be nothing.

“Yeah, just winded,” she wheezed. “She definitely knows what she’s doing.”

He racked his mind for what sort of Ability they could be up against - perception, to hide her form from sight, perhaps? Some manner of mind control to simply make them hallucinate their opponent? Perhaps they weren’t fighting anyone at all, were simply leaping at shadows. Mamizou was a prankster, she liked to watch people flounder, was this just another test to see if he could see through her deceptions?

Uraraka had been unusually quick to attack their ‘trainer’, were her reflexes already that fast from becoming a werewolf?

Was she  _ in _ on it? Had Mamizou told her she planned to trick him?

Was it even Uraraka at all?

He had been expecting her, but he didn’t remember telling her to meet there. The real Uraraka could easily have been visiting Eientei instead.

It could be Nue.

He had turned his back on her, he realized with a start. Whirling, he caught Uraraka raising a claw to strike his back.

“Deku,” she growled. It didn’t sound friendly.

“Duck.”

The moment her arm began to move, he lunged forward into her stomach, knocking her backwards as her claws swung wide. Something clattered to the ground beside him, clearing the fog of paranoia from his mind. 

A conical bamboo hat.

Realizing his mistake, he scrambled off of Uraraka as fast as he could, blushing and trying his best to ignore Mamizou’s laughter in the background.

Without her hat, he could see the instructor Mamizou had found them for who she truly was - a head of long purple hair, gleaming red eyes, and a pair of slightly crooked bunny ears.

Reisen, the rabbit who had met them at Eientei.

“I could still smell you,” Uraraka stated.

“Of course you could,” the moon rabbit replied with a smile. “I was gauging how you handled an unseen foe.”

“Reisen’s Ability is the Manipulation of Waves,” Mamizou explained. “Whether that’s light, or sound, or even brainwaves, makes no difference to her. Thus, when you’re fighting her, you need to consider  _ every _ option she has at her disposal. She tweaked your mind to induce paranoia and make you mistrustful of Uraraka, for instance. If you’re fighting concepts, you have to be ready for tricks like that.”

Reisen nodded. “I’ll be sparring with you every weekend until you can find some way to deal with my Ability. After that - I don’t know, what do you have planned, Miss Futatsuiwa?”

“I’m working on it, okay?” 

* * *

True to Aizawa’s word, the new dorm building opened nearly exactly a month after the end of the Internship week. The whole class gathered outside of the dorm that Saturday, thankful that it was a clear, sunny day.

“Not everyone got permission to move in,” Sero observed. “Todoroki’s missing.”

“Endeavor’s being irrational, insisting that it would hinder Todoroki’s training,” Aizawa said tiredly. Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku saw Kirishima clench his fists. “For the rest of you, I’ll just be giving you a brief tour of the facilities before you move in.”

He led them through the doors into an expansive common room, carpet giving way into hardwood flooring for a dining area. The living area had several couches and ottomans arranged around a low coffee table, as well as a large TV on a display stand. The adjoining dining area was less lavish, but wholly functional for its intended purpose, boasting four dining tables, each with four chairs, as well as a fully-equipped kitchen.

“Aizawa, sir,” Iida asked. “Why does the dining area only have enough seating for sixteen people? Our class is a class of twenty.”

“The living area also has a table, and the breakfast bar at the kitchen can also be used. If it’s really an issue you can request one more table, but I imagine the current furnishings will be just fine.”

Kaminari shrugged.

“I always eat in my room if I have the option,” Reiko stated.

“Anyways,” Aizawa continued, “the first floor is a common area for all your usage. On top of dining, baths and laundry rooms can also be found here. Baths are split up by gender, and there are eight washers and dryers, so you may want to set up a schedule so that you can all get your laundry done when you need to. As for rooms...”

The building was equipped with a pair of elevators, but for the sake of not stuffing twenty people into a single elevator, he led them up the stairs instead.

“Each floor from two through five has a total of eight rooms, which we’ve divided into four boys and four girls rooms on each floor.”

Opening a door with a blank nameplate, he showed off a vacant room to the gathered class.

“Each room has its own air conditioner, bathroom, refrigerator, and closet, as well as the other basic furnishings you would expect from a room. If you feel anything is missing, feel free to request it, and you are, of course, permitted to decorate your rooms as you see fit. The luggage you sent to UA earlier this week should already be in your rooms.”

Without a further word, the tired teacher departed, leaving the class to set up their rooms.

* * *

Izuku emerged from his room after a long process of carefully shifting furniture, using his Ability to change spare objects into display cases, and in general arranging every last bit of his All Might collection to his exact preferences. By the time he arrived at the common room, nearly everyone had gathered, with the notable exception of Reiko. Most of them were engaged in a fighting game being played on the TV when he showed up.

“Ah, Midoriya, you’re finally done with your unpacking, I assume?” Tokoyami asked. “We intended to hold a showing of each other’s rooms, but since you were taking a while, I introduced the others to one of my favorite games.”

“Seriously, you’re gonna pick Yaorochi again!?” Kaminari demanded in disbelief.

From the popping sounds and the positions of her arms, Izuku assumed that Hagakure had simply cracked her knuckles as a response before picking the controller up. The match started, with Hagakure’s character - a swordsman with seven green, serpentine tails emerging from her black and purple hakama - facing off against an ambiguous figure with bright orange hair clad in a green-and-yellow outfit. Hagakure immediately began wiping the floor with Kaminari in short order.

“I tried to advise Kaminari that Tenkai’s barrier setups require a fair degree of game knowledge to get the most use out of,” Tokoyami said as the one-sided slaughter continued, “But he persisted in his choice.”

After a moment, Kaminari threw his hands up in defeat as the game announced Hagakure’s victory.

“Anyways, now that everyone’s here, we can proceed with our original plan!” Ashido cheered. “Midoriya, since you were late, you get to show us your room first!”

“W-wait! What about Yanagi?”

If the pink-skinned girl heard, she didn’t respond - she was already beelining for the stairwell.

* * *

Ashido melted the lock on Izuku’s door without a moment’s hesitation, flinging it wide open to open his room for all the world to see.

All Might merchandise lined the walls - posters, halloween masks, comic book covers, and in one notable case, a promotional picture where All Might had recreated the cover of the iconic  _ Mighty Comics #1 _ (A comic series that declared its contents to be ‘Absolutely TRUE stories from the life of the #1 Hero!). Beyond that, he had used his Ability to create display cases for the more physical items in his collection, every last figure being tastefully displayed in glass cases that wouldn’t have been out of place in a museum’s galleries.

“Wow, it’s wall-to-wall All Might,” Uraraka exclaimed. “You really admire him, huh?”

Izuku nodded sheepishly. “It’s sort of embarrassing how much of his merchandise I have.”

“Don’t worry,” she assured him, “I think it’s cute - did you use your Ability to get those cases?”

“Well, it doesn’t seem to have a time limit that I’ve found, so…”

“Oh, good,” Ashido said. “You can fix up any doors we have to break into, then! I was worried I’d have to ask Aizawa to replace your doorknob and explain why it broke on the first day.”

“Please don’t destroy school property,” Iida requested.

“Not listening! Next up is Yanagi’s room!” she cheered.

Ojiro raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that on another floor? Why not Tokoyami or Aoyama?”

“She’s trying to skip out on us, that’s why!” Ashido declared. “We can’t just leave her out of the fun, now can we?”

* * *

Ashido pounded roughly on Reiko’s door before putting her forehead to it and shouting, “Open up, Yanagi! We know you’re in there! You’ve got ten seconds before I melt your doorknob and we come in anyways!”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Thre-”

Without warning, Reiko pulled her door open, causing Mina to stumble into the room. Everyone else began to file through the entrance in short order.

Something caught Izuku’s eye just as he was about to enter. He threw out an arm to stop Uraraka - thankfully, the two of them were at the back of the group, so nobody saw the odd behavior.

The threshold to Reiko’s room was lined with runes, each one carved delicately into the floor with machinelike precision. Some of them, he recognized from his duel with her - warding runes, meant to keep Youkai from crossing, but rearranged to face outwards rather than in, protecting an area rather than binding a victim to a place. Countless other runes that he couldn’t recognize were dotted along the walls, and more warding circles had been carved into the floor, enclosing Reiko’s bed in no less than seven defensive wards that he could see.

“Geez, this is like something out of a horror movie!” Ashido exclaimed. “Did you spend all this time working on these?”

“Yes,” Reiko replied indignantly, “And I’m still not done with them, so if you could try to avoid damaging any of my runes, that would be ideal.”

“What are these even for? Are you scared of ghosts or-”

“ _ Out, _ ” the magician insisted.

* * *

Reiko pulled Izuku and Uraraka aside after the room tours had ended, a look of urgency on her face. Frantically scribbling a rune on a notepad, she tore it off and slapped it on the ground before repeating the process three more times.

“Nobody should be able to hear us now,” she breathed. “Neither of you tried to enter my room earlier, did you?”

Izuku shook his head. “I saw your warding line just in time and stopped Uraraka - I figured it would be awkward to explain why we were physically barred from your room.”

“Is that what that was?” Uraraka asked. “I was wondering what that was about.”

Reiko nodded. “I won’t sleep anywhere unless I’ve warded it first. On top of magical barriers, I have a suite of glyphs that alert me when supernatural activity occurs nearby, ranging from ones that simply tell me if something’s getting close to ones that let me know when something’s messing with space anywhere within 10 kilometers.”

“That’s why you flinched before the League attacked the USJ!” Izuku realized.

“Correct. But that’s not what I needed to tell you.”

“Which of your wards went off?”

“One of my stronger ones - one that detects if something supernatural crosses it. Someone in the class set that ward off, but didn’t get stopped by my barriers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuyuko's Ability is also listed as Manipulation of Death, but there's some differences to the Ability I've given Sariel when compared with Yuyuko's. Overall, I'd say Yuyuko's is stronger in terms of lethality, even if Sariel has the utility of being able to kill the conversation or make flames flicker and die.
> 
> There's no Bakugou Rescue Mission for Aizawa to chew the students out about, so the dorm move-in goes a lot more smoothly than in canon.
> 
> Reiko heavily wards her room ever since her time in Gensokyo, mostly to give herself peace of mind - there's no way Yukari can reach her in the Outside World, but even if she could, the wards would stop her, right?
> 
> Right?


	26. Seeds of the Incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Investigations and Preparations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woof, 9k hits now - I'll be breaking 10k before I know it, and to think that that figure once seemed lofty and unreachable... I couldn't have done it without you guys, by definition.
> 
> The first of Antinomy of Common Flowers' title themes - the game goes through several versions as you clear Story Modes, which I appreciate greatly.

“Where is she?” Izuku asked in a hushed tone as he crouched for cover behind a gravestone.

“Can’t tell,” Uraraka replied. “She’s got that military training, she knows how to hide her scent when she wants to.”

He poked his head up and over the gravestone for a brief moment. Almost immediately, a hailstorm of pink projectiles forced him to duck back into cover.

“Sixteen that I could see,” he reported, “and there’s no guarantee Reisen's actually one of them.”

“We could look for her footprints?” Uraraka suggested.

“Her control’s good enough she can just fake those,” Izuku replied. “She can fly anyways.”

Despite being one of the ‘weaker’ powers in Gensokyo that could affect more than the physical (as Mamizou had put it, “least you can hit her if you can figure out where she is”), Reisen's Manipulation of Waves had proven to be quite the headache over a week of sparring matches with the moon rabbit. Every time they thought they had a counter to it, she pulled a new trick out of her bag and they were back to square one. On the second day of sparring, she had started hiding her scent from Uraraka. On the third, she had begun to use projectiles.

Now, she was combining projectiles, illusory clones, invisibility, and throwing phantom sounds at them to keep them guessing. Izuku plunged a hand into the ground, pulling up a wall of metal to stave off her attacks.

Without needing to be told, Uraraka immediately removed gravity's hold on the barrier, hefting the massive object up to serve as a shield. Something they had noticed over their previous spars was that Reisen's ranged attacks, constructed from waves, caused very little damage to the terrain and conveyed next to no force into the objects they hit. As long as they had cover and didn't let the moon rabbit sneak up on them, they were safe.

Unfortunately, Reisen's ability had proven extremely effective at letting her sneak up on the pair, leading to their current strategy.

Grabbing a sheet from his booklet, Izuku transformed it into a cloud of billowing smoke before immediately planting a hand on the ground and making it turn to mud as fast as he could force the change. At the same time, Uraraka swung the huge barrier as hard as she could to both thin the smoke and sweep the cloud outwards before leaping to a nearby tree, makeshift shield ready to repel attacks.

Scanning the area through the shifting smoke and flowing ground, she saw what she was looking for - a patch of space where the smoke didn’t quite flow right, where the ground seemed a bit too smooth for its liquid nature despite the fierce gale she had kicked up. She met Izuku’s eyes with a quick glance, indicating the rabbit’s position with a subtle hand motion before lunging off the tree with the makeshift shield up in front of her. Immediately, Reisen dropped her cloak, appearing out of thin air right at Uraraka’s target site. The gravity user barely had time to realize something was wrong before a beam of pink energy tore from the rabbit’s eyes, piercing through the shield like it wasn’t even there and slamming straight into Uraraka. Caught in the middle of vaulting his gravestone to capitalize on the opening the werewolf had been about to provide, Izuku was unable to dodge when the moon rabbit’s gaze shifted down to him, still trailing the beam of energy. Struck directly in the chest by the shimmering energy, he dropped limply to the ground like a ragdoll.

Walking over to him, Reisen offered him a hand up. “Do you know what you did wrong?”

Izuku groaned - their mistake was clear in retrospect. “Penetration depth for electromagnetic waves is based on wavelength - a shield wasn’t going to help.”

Reisen nodded. “That attack uses every wavelength, dynamically shifting for optimal penetration and to cause as much damage as possible.”

“Isn't that dangerous?” Uraraka asked.

“That’s what the Spell Card system is for,” the moon rabbit replied. “Stops me - or anyone, really - from doing lasting damage. Really, all that attack’s good for in most scenarios is a quick shot that gets around cover. Handy for dealing with fairies, at least.”

“Seems like everything you’ve got is handy for something,” she grumbled, slightly disheartened by yet another loss. “You’ve pulled out a new trick every spar and every one countered whatever we had come up with.”

Reisen laughed. “Comes with the Ability - I’ve read about the Quirks you guys have in the Outside World, and they’re a lot narrower in scope than what we have here. Most of the powers here are more like toolboxes, really.”

“How so?” Izuku asked, a notebook immediately in his hands.

“Quirks tend to be narrower in scope, is the main thing - out there most of you guys have things like having wings, or telekinesis but only applicable to disposable plastic cutlery, or things like that. There’s only a few people in Gensokyo who have those sorts of restrictions, and most of us have had centuries to find extra uses for our powers.”

“So how would you recommend training an Ability?” he pressed. “I feel like my development’s slowed recently, and there’s things I just can’t figure out.”

She gave a hum of contemplation for a moment before answering with an apologetic shrug, “I don’t know how it is for Humans, but I had an instinctive understanding of how my Ability worked from the start. I think a lot of Youkai have that, actually - a Yamabiko is an echo by their very nature, asking them how to make an echo is like asking a fish how it breathes water.”

“I see,” Izuku sighed. “I can safely say that’s probably not the case for me.”

“You might want to try asking some of the humans about how they figured out their Abilities, then. I know for a fact that Reimu resolved her first two Incidents without knowing how to even use hers.”

“She faced down people like you without even having an Ability!?” Uraraka cried in disbelief.

“She’s… a bit of a special case,” Reisen admitted.

* * *

Reiko grabbed Izuku and Uraraka bright and early the next morning to outline a plan in the privacy of Izuku’s room.

“First, I’ll say that it’s not feasible to set up alarm wards throughout the entire building - they’re a secondary aspect to my warding circles, meant to alarm me if something manages to cross them anyways. Beyond that, I don’t have the energy to maintain my personal wards as well as wards on all of our classmates.”

“And if they figure out what you’re doing, they could just exit their rooms by dropping off the balcony,” Uraraka added. “Even from the top floor, that probably wouldn’t be an obstacle to them.”

“How did you identify me as a Youkai?” Izuku asked. “We could try doing that.”

She stared at him for a moment before answering simply, “You were incredibly obvious.”

“Unfortunately,” she continued, placing a copy of the class roster on Izuku’s desk, “Without being able to get everyone to come to my room one by one, we’ll need to narrow down the list of suspects as best we can. I’d suggest splitting the list among ourselves, but that might make it obvious what we’re doing. Just keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”

* * *

“Hey, anyone up for Karaoke?” Ashido loudly asked the students who were gathered in the common room. “I’ll cover all the costs.”

“Why karaoke all of a sudden?” Ojiro wondered.

“I felt like it! We just moved in together, we should do something to celebrate, you know?”

“I must pass, regrettably,” Tokoyami replied from the couch. “The darkness requires further contemplation for me to further unlock its secrets.”

“He’s mad ‘cuz I keep beating him in his game and he wants to figure out better combos so he can beat me,” Hagakure translated.

“How about you two,” Ashido asked. “Midoriya? Uraraka? You in?”

The two of them nodded in unison.

* * *

After a quick sweep of the dorms, the final group going to karaoke consisted of Ashido, Izuku, Uraraka, Jirou, Ojiro, Kaminari, Sero, Iida and Aoyama. With Ashido covering all the charges, the rest of the group was quick to take advantage of the refreshments on offer, though Izuku and Uraraka both refrained out of politeness (and, in Uraraka’s case, consciousness of other peoples’ budgets, since she had to watch her own so much). Izuku was fairly certain he heard Kaminari grumble under his breath about Iida’s presence meaning that they couldn’t order any alcohol.

As the one paying for the trip, Ashido took the first song, spending several minutes looking through the list to Sero and Kaminari’s joking heckling before finally selecting a pop song Izuku recognized as having once been performed in a street concert by a vigilante over in Naruhata. Nothing seemed particularly unusual about her performance.

Iida himself was fairly subdued the whole time, ordering only a few refreshments and insisting on paying for them himself, sitting calmly and applauding for other peoples’ performances, and generally giving a strong impression that he had come along solely to chaperone the trip. He passed when given the opportunity to sing himself.

Sero, on the other hand, was surprisingly wild, getting fully into the energy of the outing and using his tape to both retrieve his drinks without needing to leave his seat and - to applause from the group - suspending himself from the ceiling when it came time for him to sing.

Jirou picked a song with a large call-and-response component to it, happily echoing her replies to the lyrics in perfect tune with the music itself. For a moment, Izuku considered the possibility that she was a Yamabiko, but the echo youkai were by far the most endangered species due to how easily the idea that echoes were simply sound bouncing off mountains arose. Kyouko, the Myouren Temple’s resident Yamabiko, was unfortunately part of a dying race, and he doubted Jirou would have lasted in the Outside World if she was one of them.

Aoyama, to nobody’s surprise, selected a song entirely in french, performing plenty of flourishes as he sang along and was only stopped from throwing glitter around the room by Iida’s last-minute intervention. Too weird to truly get a read on, but Izuku suspected the boy’s pronunciation wasn’t quite accurate.

Ojiro was, surprisingly, the standout weirdness of the outing. The martial artist somehow managed to find a meditative chant among the songs on offer and picked it without a second thought, reciting the sutra with his eyes closed and astounding Izuku with the level of energy he could feel flowing off of the boy. He had felt Faith before, when he had fought Shiozaki at the Sports Festival, but Ojiro’s energy was something different, something from within, and overflowing from the tailed boy’s body. As suddenly as it had emerged, it faded away as the sutra came to an end. Uraraka hastily patted her wolf ears back down on her head once it had finished, putting a calm facade back on, but she too was clearly unnerved by whatever _ that _had been.

When it came time for his turn, Kaminari put a swift and unceremonious end to the proceedings, letting out a startled yelp as he grabbed the microphone and it shocked him, falling unresponsive. The staff, upon investigation, concluded it was an unrelated electrical fault and let the group go without charging them any extra.

* * *

“As all of you no doubt realize,” Aizawa stated, “Summer Vacation is coming up. Naturally, as a Hero School, it would be irrational of us to allow you all to take a month off from training. So you’ll be attending a summer training camp in the woods.”

An excited murmur ran through the class. 

“However, that doesn’t mean you can just slack off, either,” he continued, voice raised over the din of the class. “Anyone who fails to pass the upcoming final exams will have to take summer school courses to make up for it.”

* * *

Studiously reviewing Quirk Law at one of the dining tables, Reiko raised an eyebrow as Kaminari and Tokoyami returned from a shopping trip, the electrical blond loudly carrying on a conversation with the crow-headed boy.

“-got me thinking, I need some way to work around my Quirk’s downside, yeah? Can’t just be going stupid during the middle of a battle, you know.”

Tokoyami nodded, his chin just barely cresting over the top of a massive stack of books on mythology he had purchased. Internally, the magician cursed her inability to get him to just drop his inquiries into the supernatural. If he kept going the way he was…

She hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Kaminari held up a large bag, clearly straining under the weight of its contents. “So I thought - ‘what if I didn’t need to use my _ own _ electricity’? What if I could use an outside source and just, _ direct _ it, you know?”

“External reagents to focus your energy, very smart,” Tokoyami agreed. “It’s often said that divination, for example, works better when the caster has a reflective surface to work with.”

“Yeah, like that!” the blond replied. “So I figured what better use for my money than buying four hundred and eighty double-A batteries? If this doesn’t work then at least I won’t need to buy batteries for years!”

Rolling her eyes, she jotted both of them down on her list of suspects.

* * *

Early in the morning, the three of them reconvened at the table in the common area, carrying on a hushed conversation over cereal for breakfast. Izuku didn’t imagine they were at risk of being overheard - most of the class was late risers, with the only current exception being Sato unpacking a large load of baking ingredients in the kitchen area - but Reiko insisted on keeping their voices low in addition to the privacy afforded by her silencing glyphs.

“In the end, we identified Ashido, Jirou, Ojiro, Kaminari, and Tokoyami as likely suspects,” Reiko summarized, rubbing her eyes sleepily. “To that end, I set up wards outside their rooms - both the main doorways and the balcony entrances - to see if they would set them off.”

“Did you pull an all-nighter?” Uraraka wondered. “You look exhausted.”

“I wasn’t going to sleep without my personal wards up, and I had too many wards on the rooms to maintain my own for the night. It doesn’t matter.”

“It really-”

“Ojiro set off the wards when he entered his room,” Reiko continued, too tired to look perplexed. “He didn’t set them off when he left. That could mean a lot of things - an invisible intruder, perhaps, or something’s haunting him and following him around. Ghosts tend to only grow strong close to the Hour of the Ox, after all. We could even have a Zashiki-Warashi in the building.”

“In a dorm only finished a few weeks ago?” Izuku asked, clearly skeptical. “I doubt one’s moved in that quickly.”

“You never know,” she replied. “_ She _ apparently uses them to spy on the population of the Human Village. I could see her sending one to watch us for weakness as well.”

“So what now, then?” Uraraka asked. “We watch Ojiro more closely to see if we can identify exactly what’s going on with him?”

“That’s the only lead we have,” Reiko admitted. “We can’t make any overt moves just yet - if he isn’t directly involved with Gensokyo, we’ll only be putting him in danger by acting rashly.”

“But if there’s something haunting him, he’ll end up in danger before long anyways,” Izuku countered.

“Which is why we keep watching him, so we can intervene if needed. There’s only a week left until the final exams, and then we’ll be too busy to keep watching - we need to observe him more closely than ever.”

* * *

“Now then, Reisen wasn’t able to make it today,” Mamizou started. “There’s apparently some nasty flu going around the Village and Eirin’s had her making medicine runs all day - Reimu already went and thumped the Tsuchigumo over in Former Hell and she swears it wasn’t her, so it’s probably just a natural bug and will pass in a day or two. That does leave you two without a teacher, though, and you said that your exams were coming up soon, so I was thinking-”

“Oh my,” a light, airy voice interjected. “Visitors from Outside? They’re a rare sight this time of year.”

Drifting between the headstones as silently as the grave, an elegantly dressed woman approached the group. She wore a pale blue mob cap paired with both the Hitaikakushi that marked a ghost, decorated with a red spiral, and a veil of a similar pale blue color to the cap itself hanging out from the backside of the cap, its color contrasting with her short, wavy pink hair. Her light blue kimono, decorated with floral and butterfly patterns in an unblemished white, was trimmed with dark blue, and she wore black shoes decorated with dark blue ribbons despite the fact that she clearly had no need to touch the ground. A pair of white blobs that shifted almost like flames - phantoms, Izuku realized - accompanied her like courtly retainers.

Behind her was a serious-looking girl with short silver hair in a bob cut and decorated with a black ribbon, wearing a simple dark green dress decorated with ghost insignias. Accompanied by an absolutely massive phantom nearly as big as herself, she bore two swords at her waist - a wakizashi, and the longest katana Izuku had seen that was still intended to actually be wielded in battle.

“Ah, Miss Saigyouji, was it?” Mamizou asked. “Yer a rare sight outside of the Netherworld - what brings you here today?”

“I simply wanted to see how the cherry blossoms were blooming this year,” the ghostly woman replied. “While the trees in Hakugyokurou are a spectacular sight, flower viewing in the world of the living carries its own special appeal as well.”

“Lady Yuyuko,” the silver-haired girl said, in a slightly rough voice and an extremely formally polite manner of speaking that made Izuku think of a samurai addressing their lord, “It has been nearly two months since the cherry blossoms bloomed - we attended the viewing at the Hakurei Shrine.”

“Oh, has it been that long already? It must have slipped my mind - we’re simply too late to see the Temple’s blossoms, then.”

“If you had told me your plans before we left, I might have been able to suggest a substitute - I’m told that-”

“These two are Saigyouji Yuyuko, the Ghost Princess of the Netherworld, and Konpaku Youmu, her loyal half-phantom gardener,” Mamizou explained as the duo talked with each other about the lack of cherry blossoms. “Youmu in particular is rather well-known in Gensokyo for having helped to resolve several Incidents.”

“And also causing one,” she added with a cough.

“Wow, so she’s sort of like a Pro Hero we’ve been training under!” Uraraka exclaimed.

“Well, yeah, sort of,” the Tanuki admitted, “But Reisen’s also helped to resolve a couple Incidents and you didn’t seem so starstruck to be training under her.”

“Reisen’s resolved some Incidents, too?”

“Do you hear that, Youmu?” Yuyuko asked, nudging the gardener with her elbow. “They’re receiving some combat training - and from that rabbit, no less! You _ do _ remember her, right? From our wonderful midnight sightseeing tour?”

“We have interacted with the Lunarians on several occasions since the Imperishable Night,” Youmu replied.

“If they’re learning from someone of that caliber, I simply must see their abilities in action - would you be so kind as to offer them a spar?”

Sighing, the ghostly swordswoman unsheathed her massive katana. “Lady Yuyuko has humbly requested that I duel with you, if you two are willing to indulge her.”

Hesitantly, Izuku nodded.

“And you?” Youmu checked, turning her head to Uraraka. “I have no problem fighting the two of you at once, if that is what you’re concerned about.”

“If you’re fine with it…” the werewolf replied.

“The duel will be under Banquet rules, until one party is unable to continue fighting,” Yuyuko declared. “While the Outsiders do not have formal Spell Cards, they will be allowed to freely use their techniques, while Youmu shall be allowed two - one for each opponent. Are these terms acceptable?”

“They are,” Mamizou replied for the pair. Even if she hadn’t, they were as favorable terms as they could hope.

“One Card,” Youmu countered, in a display of sheer confidence that raised Izuku’s eyebrow.

Whatever the half-phantom had up her sleeve, she was wagering that it was the only special trick she’d need.

“Youmu’s Ability is her swordsmanship,” Mamizou told them as she walked to take a seat on a large gravestone. “She won’t have any special tricks up her sleeve like Reisen - just sheer skill, strength, and speed. Good luck, you’ll both need it, since I imagine Yuyuko told her not to pull any punches.”

“You think so?” Uraraka wondered. “She seems pretty spacey.”

“Yeah, I think so,” the tanuki replied. “She seems spacey and unaware, but it’s all an act - she hangs out with Yukari, and has the mental acuity one would expect from someone who works with that schemer. I wouldn’t be surprised if Yukari even sent her here - she did know I’m training you under Banquet rules without needing to be told, after all.”

Taking her seat, she lit her pipe as Youmu and the heroes-in-training took up position across from each other. Yuyuko flipped a fan open and held it in front of her face in a manner that reminded Izuku very distinctly of Yukari.

“Begin!”

Nearly instantly, Youmu shot from her position like a bullet, closing the gap to the pair in less time than it took them to blink. On reflex alone, Izuku was able to quickly turn his entire book of promissory notes into a last-second defense, a massive wall of solid steel - the only thing he could think of on short notice. He mentally kicked himself for wasting his whole book of notes on one transformation.

The reprieve was far shorter than they’d have liked - nearly as soon as it had been created, the tip of Youmu’s katana whipped through it, shaving a few hairs off Izuku’s head as it cut through the metal as easily as a boat cut through water.

“This Roukanken, forged by Youkai…” Youmu boasted, as the wall fell away, “The things that it cannot cut are close to none!”

Immediately, Uraraka moved to place herself in between Izuku and Youmu. Without a moment’s hesitation, the gardener drew the wakizashi and delivered a shallow cut to Uraraka’s arm before resheathing the shorter blade and taking a peculiar stance, low to the ground with both hands on the Roukanken’s handle. Uraraka seemed sluggish and dazed by some effect, unable to do anything to stop the swordswoman.

“Hell Realm Sword:”

Her entire body tensed minutely, and Izuku prepared to dodge whatever came his way.

“_ Two Hundred Yojana in One Slash. _”

* * *

Izuku blinked awake to the sky of the Myouren Temple graveyard, the tail of Youmu’s phantom half bobbing in and out of the edge of his vision.

“You’re slow,” was all the half-phantom swordswoman said.

“That’s one of the fastest attacks in Gensokyo, to be fair.” Mamizou sounded almost defensive.

“I don’t understand how that hit,” Izuku muttered, more to himself than either of them.

“The Roukanken can cut through nearly anything,” Youmu replied matter-of-factly. “That applies even to your defensive shroud of c-”

“Youmu!” Yuyuko interrupted loudly, “We should hurry back to the Netherworld - I just remembered that Yukari told me she’d be coming over to reminisce about old times!”

“I apologize, but I must depart,” she curtly stated, rising and rejoining the ghost princess.

Izuku just lay there for a bit longer, his body aching all over.

“Don’t feel bad for losing,” Mamizou reassured him. “She’s out of your league for the moment, and unlike Reisen, she wasn’t holding back. I’m sure this played a part in _ whatever _game Yukari’s playing.”

* * *

Nezu grinned a sadistic smile to himself as he reviewed the matchups one last time - the sort of smile he always grew when he was preparing to test someone without their knowledge.

**Kirishima Eijirou & Aoyama Yuuga vs Thirteen**

**Sato Rikido & Uraraka Ochako vs Cementoss**

**Asui Tsuyu & Tokoyami Fumikage vs Ectoplasm**

**Iida Tenya & Ojiro Mashirao vs Power Loader**

**Todoroki Shoto & Yaoyorozu Momo vs Eraserhead**

**Ashido Mina & Kaminari Denki vs Nezu**

**Koda Koji & Jirou Kyoka vs Present Mic**

**Hagakure Tooru & Shoji Mezo vs Snipe**

**Bakugou Katsuki & Sero Hanta vs Midnight**

**Midoriya Izuku & Yanagi Reiko vs All Might**

_ Let’s see how David Shield’s design fares in combat, _ he thought to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reisen's boss fight is possibly my favorite fight in the Touhou games - something about the sheer quantity of her bullets, the shifting, multiplying, disappearing and reappearing she makes them do just makes it feel so good to me.
> 
> Youmu, on the other hand, I always found sort of meh as far as fights go. I dunno, the bullet time gimmick she has is just sorta lackluster to me.


	27. Sprouts of Suspicion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Student-Teacher battles of the Final Exams begin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm closing in on 10k hits... I think I have an idea of what I'm going to do when that hits, but it might not be what you expect.
> 
> Chapter title is the second Title Theme for Antinomy of Common Flowers.

“Well, this is unwinnable,” Reiko declared flatly.

Izuku was inclined to agree - All Might was number one for a reason. Nobody had even touched the man in his last dozen high-profile fights. No matter how heavy the weights UA had given him were, it was beyond their capabilities.

“Not so, young Midoriya!” the hero replied. Apparently Izuku had been mumbling again.

“Naturally, it would be absurd to expect heroes-in-training to be able to overcome a trained pro in a straight fight - thus, the objectives of this training allow for escape as well!”

He gestured to the massive gate behind them. “You can win either by making it through that gate there, or by managing to put a pair of capture cuffs on me!”

“Allowing capture or escape…” Izuku muttered to himself. “Naturally, those are the two primary judgments a hero has to make when fighting a villain in the absence of civilians… UA obviously doesn’t intend to overwhelm us, so we don’t have to consider bystanders just yet.”

“Nezu designed this test to simulate a true battle scenario as best as possible - please think of me as an actual villain! In a real battle, there’s no shame in withdrawing to call for help.”

“So the test is really examining our decision making skills,” Reiko stated.

“Indeed! If you think you can take us down, then by all means, go for it! To make things easier for you, we’ll be wearing these ultra-compressed weights created by the support department!”

He held out a finger to signify one final warning. “But, regardless of what you choose - if you haven’t won by the time thirty minutes are up, you fail the exam! Further, since I know you can use your Quirk for flight, young Yanagi, Nezu specifically stated that escape only counts if you leave through the designated exit! I’ll leave you two in the center of our arena, and when the signal is given, your test will start!”

* * *

“This seems somewhat lopsided, _ non _?” Aoyama wondered. “We have no realistic means of attacking our opponent - her black hole can suck up anything we throw at her.”

Kirishima grit his teeth. He had to admit the blond was right - Thirteen’s Quirk, used properly, made the Space Hero nearly unassailable. He doubted she would actually put them in danger, but he didn’t want a cheap win like rushing her and forcing her to react to save his life. There was no way All Might would approve of using a tactic like that, when in a real battle he’d literally be throwing his life away.

“We have the initiative advantage, at least,” he ventured at last.

“Oh? How do you see that?”

“Thirteen’s Quirk, for how powerful it is, does nothing for her mobility,” Kirishima replied, trying to channel Midoriya’s analysis as best he could. “She’ll be waiting by the exit gate - there’s too much of a risk that we’ll sneak by her otherwise.”

“Ah! _ Magnifique _! Then we can plan our attack on her accordingly!”

* * *

“Careful!” Ojiro shouted in warning as the ground crumbled away just ahead of Iida.

“Ah, it seems I was a bit careless in my speed!” Iida exclaimed. “It seems Majima-Sensei’s digging speed is unrivaled - to be expected of UA staff, after all!”

“He’s got the area thoroughly undermined,” the martial artist warned. “He’s fast, too, despite appearances. We can’t take it too slowly, or he’ll just wear us down. We won’t be able to block forever.”

As if to accentuate his point, Power Loader took the opportunity to launch an attack from the soil, the massive suit of support gear he wore lending him a range advantage as he popped out of the ground a distance away to bombard them with a volley of concussive missiles - the same variety as the nonlethal landmines used in UA’s obstacle race, as little comfort as that was. Ojiro was barely able to dodge in time, the blast catching the barest tip of his tail, while Iida got clear but promptly fell into another pit trap and began to free himself.

“Truly an annoyance,” Iida admitted. “He outmaneuvers us and the terrain is completely to his advantage. We can’t hope to react fast enough to catch him when he takes the chance to attack.

“...maybe we don’t have to,” Ojiro realized.

“We can’t just let him attack us freely, even if we do try to retreat!”

“No, just… cover me, okay?”

Looking confused for a moment, Iida nodded.

Taking a seat with his legs crossed, Ojiro began to meditate. All life was connected, born of the same energy and tied to the same well of power. Breathe in. Breathe out. Focus on that life energy. It was a detail to his Quirk he had discovered during his martial arts training, but never really found a use for - funny how things worked out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Maintaining a steady rhythm.

He could picture the world around him despite his eyes being closed. The ground, a dull, lifeless color. The trees, glowing faintly, like a light that had been halfway dimmed. And himself, Iida, and - most crucially - Power Loader, a brilliant glow like a beacon in the darkness of the world he saw in his meditation.

Idly, Ojiro noted that the anomaly he had noticed the other day was gone - he was back to his usual glow, no longer twice as bright. Perhaps he wasn’t making a breakthrough after all. It didn’t matter.

What mattered is he saw what direction Power Loader was heading.

He opened his eyes and leapt to his feet immediately, the fantastic lights of life itself fading from his mind’s eye like a dream vanishing with the dawn. Without a word to Iida, he ran to the nearby pitfall and slammed his tail into the side of it as he leapt, using the muscular appendage to push off the wall and add to his speed.

As expected, their opponent popped up at that moment to launch an attack, only to be treated to a sudden onslaught by the tailed martial artist. While he twisted out of the way of the main attack, one of his suit’s rocket pods was heavily damaged.

“How’d you know?” He asked.

“Lucky guess,” Ojiro replied.

Majima dove back into the ground - he hadn’t expected it from the relatively simple appearance and Quirk, but it was the martial artist, not the heir to the Ingenium name, who he really needed to watch out for.

* * *

Todoroki watched Yaoyorozu continue to produce matryoshka dolls as they navigated the maze of suburban streets Eraserhead had picked as their battleground. She put a surprising amount of attention to detail into each one, producing them in a simple, but elegant mix of gold and silver.

“It doesn’t wear you out to keep making them with decorations?” he asked.

“No - why would it?” she replied. “I haven’t been decorating them at all, really. I’m making them from pure gold and silver so I only need to consider two elements while making them. The molecular pattern isn’t difficult at all.”

“...right. Just let me know if you can’t create anything else.”

As they continued to work their way through the neighborhood, she admitted, “You’re really on another level, Todoroki.”

“How so?”

“You came up with a tactic for detecting Aizawa nearly instantly… you always seem to find the best approach to things.”

“It’s nothing special, really,” he deflected as he continued to lead the way.

“We both got into UA on recommendation - as far as the school’s concerned, we’re at the same level,” she sighed. “But I still haven’t shown any practical hero skills worth mentioning - you’ve got far more raw power than me, you handled the attack at USJ without issue, while I’ve…”

“Yaoyorozu,” Todoroki interrupted urgently. “Your matryoshkas! He’s here!”

“You should have reacted sooner,” Aizawa droned as the two of them frantically scanned their surroundings for him.

“Yaoyorozu - go!” Todoroki commanded as their teacher dropped to the ground right in front of them from a power line they hadn’t been watching. “Make it to the exit!”

* * *

As expected, Thirteen had stationed herself right by the exit of the area. It wasn’t ideal terrain for their strategy - Kirishima had hoped that they would have a raised platform. But then, All Might would probably mention that a true hero doesn’t get to pick and choose their battles - a sentiment the man’s successor heartily agreed with.

“So I barrage her to force her to focus on dodging my attacks, _ oui _?” Aoyama confirmed.

“Yeah, man, do that - I’ll take advantage of the opening to close in on her. If she tries to dodge while using Black Hole she’ll just destroy her footing.”

As Kirishima slipped away, the flamboyant blond began his bombardment, opening with a relatively leisurely pace to avoid overstressing his stomach. As expected, Thirteen’s focus was entirely on dodging the attacks, allowing him to draw closer unnoticed.

Then, it all fell apart.

In one quick motion, Thirteen uncapped a finger on her left hand, facing Black Hole’s all-consuming vacuum towards Aoyama while turning the rest of her body to face Kirishima.

“My Black Hole consumes everything,” she explained, as the blond’s barrage intensified in a frantic panic. “Just like in nature, even light is no exception. Personally, I dislike fighting, but I have my own methods of trapping opponents.”

She uncapped a finger on her right hand, drawing Kirishima in. Thinking quickly, he slammed a hardened hand into the ground, gouging a rough handhold.

“Shit,” he grunted out as he roughly stopped himself. Aoyama’s attack couldn’t pass her defense, and he had fallen completely into her trap. That left him with one option.

Pouring One For All into one leg, he kicked the air with the maximum 10% power that he could handle with his Hardening up, sending a shockwave rippling through the air at the Space Hero.

It, too, was consumed by the uncaring void.

He needed some trick to beat her - all retreating would do is reset the battlefield, they needed a way to overcome her, but his original plan was completely shot- or was it?

The original idea was still sound - without stable footing, Thirteen wouldn’t be able to use her Quirk effectively. He just needed to somehow force that scenario rather than rely on making her dodge. Hadn’t he wrecked Bakugou’s footing during the Sports Festival?

Gritting his teeth, he poured 100% power into his free arm. Gran Torino would have probably yelled at him for going over his safe limit after he had finally figured out how to dial One For All back, but there was no other option he could see - either he used it full on or he risked tipping Thirteen off to his plan.

He slammed his arm into the ground, clenching his jaw as his hardening shattered, leaving blood dripping from the cracks in his skin. He wouldn’t break any bones unless he tried that a second time, but it was still going to be extremely sore.

The effect on Thirteen was immediate. The ground splintered and shattered, throwing the rescue hero, unused as she was to direct combat, off-balance from the suddenness of it. As she stumbled, her Quirk ran wild, tearing into the ground around her and further destroying her footing. As she finally tipped beyond hope of recovery, she had the presence of mind to snap her gloves shut and deactivate her Black Hole for the safety of her opponents, providing Aoyama - who Kirishima hadn’t even realized had stopped firing - to sprint in and snap a pair of cuffs around her wrists.

“It seemed to me that you were having difficulty, _ mon ami, _” he explained. “I was less helpful than I had hoped, but it seems I was still of some use.”

Kirishima gave him a wide grin despite the throbbing pain in his arm. “Yeah, that was real manly of you. Thanks for the save.”

* * *

“The fuck are they putting me against sleep bitch for!?” Bakugou demanded, his voice echoing across the rocky plateau they had been assigned to.

“If I had to guess, man,” Sero hazarded, “you’re kinda… headstrong? Like, if she can bait you into acting rashly, she’ll take you out easily.”

“Don’t underestimate me, soy sauce face!”

“Soy sau-”

The explosive blond let off a massive explosion, bellowing, “COME OUT AND FIGHT ME!”

“...I’m just gonna head for the exit, then.”

* * *

Midnight watched Sero begin his voyage to the escape point with the distinct feeling that Nezu had set her up. Bakugou, for all his rage, was a canny opponent, and had seen through her ambush strategy in an instant - by hanging back, he avoided the possibility of her getting the jump on both of them at once, and he was still following the tape user at a distance, using the open sightlines of the rocky plateau to his advantage. She wouldn’t be able to ambush both of them.

Picking her target, she made her move.

The moment Bakugou got a whiff of her mist, he let off a large explosion, not enough to lift him, but more than sufficient to blast Somnambulist away from him. He whirled, catching sight of her easily enough.

“_ Found you, _” he snarled.

_ Whatever you’re planning, Nezu, _ she thought as she readied her whip, _ I hope it’s worth feeding this kid’s ego. _

* * *

“Do you really think you can be a hero without self-confidence?” Aizawa asked nonchalantly as he deftly navigated the rooftops in pursuit of Yaoyorozu. “Heroes put their lives on the line every day - it’s irrational to continue pursuing this career if you’re just going to second-guess yourself when it counts.”

A loop of his capture tape wrapped around her arm, tugging her back and halting her retreat.

“I’ll take this nice and slow,” he added.

It was hopeless - she couldn’t hope to stand against their teacher in a one-on-one fight! He was trained in hand-to-hand, with far more experience than she had, and with a range advantage afforded by his capture weapon to boot! Without her Quirk, she had no way to even the-

She had her Quirk.

Whether he had blinked in that moment or simply not used Erasure to start with didn’t matter - with her Quirk she had a way to escape! Immediately, she produced a ring of gold from her wrist, prying the capture weapon off of her as it grew out and away from her arm and fell, leaving her free of bindings. Defying his expectations, she reversed course, running back to where he had left Todoroki trapped.

“Todoroki!” She called as the white-and-red-haired boy came into sight. “I’m so sorry, I never should have-”

“Nevermind that!” he interrupted. “Aizawa is coming!”

For a brief moment, she hesitated, only to be snapped out of it when he pressed, “You had a plan too, didn’t you?”

As Eraserhead continued to close in, she gave a single, determined nod before flinging her gold-and-silver matryoshkas into the air.

“Close your eyes!” she warned at the last second before a series of concealed flashbangs detonated, blowing the precious metal dolls apart and blinding their teacher with brilliant light as it reflected and bounced off of the gleaming surfaces. Taking advantage of the opening, she quickly let Todoroki down, carefully easing him to the ground to avoid the caltrops Aizawa had laid to hinder him from freeing himself.

“I shouldn’t have hesitated,” she admitted. “But now I’m sure - we can win against Aizawa-sensei!”

* * *

If Nezu were to be honest, he would have admitted he was looking forward to the final exams. Most years they were a fairly standard routine: testing the students against stronger robots than they had faced in the entry exams. High-Spec meant he almost always knew who was going to do well after a moment of thought. Switching the robots for teachers would have improved little in that regard - especially since the new matchups were explicitly intended to test the students under scenarios where they were at a disadvantage.

But then, that wasn't all he was doing for the exams. This time, he had an _ experiment _ to run.

He mentally apologized to Cementoss - the cement controller was the unwitting control for the test, thrown up against the class werewolf as a way to gauge effectiveness of a capture-specialized hero against a youkai.

All Might, on the other hand, was outfitted with a special new design commissioned from David Shield at "I need this yesterday" prices - the actual meat of the experiment. To test its effectiveness, he had been matched up with both Midoriya and Yanagi.

And, quite unusually for the genius rodent, he had _ no _ idea what the actual outcome would be! He had precious few scraps of knowledge - actual, solid knowledge, not folklore diluted with fantasy stories and modern film interpretations - about youkai, after all. Every last discovery All Might could pry out of his foes would be worth the slight lopsidedness the rest of the matches had endured due to Nezu rearranging the participants. Bakugou was going to win anyways, what did it matter who he actually won against?

The principal barely gave his opponents a glance, idly hitting the button that would trigger his network of meticulously planned traps before turning his attention fully to the feeds he had specially installed into his crane's control room to observe the matches of interest.

* * *

The moment the match commenced, Cementoss sent a wave of concrete surging up and around Uraraka and Sato, engulfing the two of them in a prison of manmade material.

“Normally I’d have taken it easier on you,” he muttered, more to himself than anyone in particular, “but Nezu specifically instructed me not to hold back - and unfortunately for you, my Quirk isn’t hindered at all by these cuffs.”

A shadow loomed over him, growing fast. In a split-second reaction, he shifted his footing up and away from the incoming object, dodging backwards just as a hairy meteor streaked by him, slamming into the ground with enough force to crack the concrete. Under his will, it repaired itself just as fast, but he really didn’t want to get hit by Uraraka after seeing that.

“What the hell did you put me against, Nezu…” he muttered.

A massive chunk of concrete from a nearby roof slammed into his side, launched by Sato’s prodigious strength. He realized what had to have happened: in the brief opening before his trap had closed, Uraraka had removed gravity from one or both of the students before leaping into the sky to dodge. Either way, she had far more strength in her than he had initially thought - her Quirk was gravity erasure, not mass erasure, she’d have been fighting inertia in order to escape the trap.

Uraraka didn’t waste a second - the moment Sato’s projectile had knocked Cementoss from his perch, she leapt for him, leaping into the air at an angle to bounce off a nearby building and make it as hard for him to intercept as possible. He guided several tendrils of concrete into the air to try to intercept her path, to no avail - she ricocheted off the first one like a stray bullet, bounded off the ground in an instant, and lunged towards him again. He barely managed to summon a protective layer around himself in time to block the attack, slipping under the ground with his control of concrete as she clawed at the clamshell-like defense.

He was flying completely blind now - he had to rely on memory of where everything was. Thankfully, Ishiyama Ken was a meticulous man. He had to be, to be useful for construction as well as combat. He knew the location of every last building in their cityscape arena down to the centimeter from when he had been placing them with studious attention to standard city codes. A few moments later, he surfaced in a nearby building, taking stock of his opponent through the window as she… sniffed the air?

Uraraka’s head snapped to face him, a look in her eyes that could only be described as “predatory”. Howling like a wolf, she hurtled towards him again, slamming through the building’s windows as he shifted backwards through the wall and brought the building down on her.

“NOW!” she yelled out as the structure, compromised, collapsed.

Sato, his muscles bulging from an ingestion of sugar, erupted from a neighboring building in a cloud of concrete dust, his aim clearly to get into close combat so Cementoss couldn’t use his Quirk to reopen distance. A tendril of concrete neatly intercepted the muscular boy’s attack.

_ That would have worked if you hadn’t yelled it out, _ he thought to himself.

**CLICK.**

The unmistakable feeling of the capture cuffs closing around his wrist brought Cementoss’s attention abruptly back the building he had just collapsed - that should have bought him more time, how did she-

In a single, neat move, Uraraka slipped behind his back, bringing his cuffed arm with her to limit his movement before tripping him and pressing her weight into his back to keep him pinned to the floor.

“I’d advise not trying to use your Quirk from this position,” she said sweetly, in complete contrast to the raging berserker she had been only moments ago.

* * *

Aizawa sat, perched on a rooftop, watching for any movement from Yaoyorozu or Todoroki. The lingering damage from his fight at USJ had weakened him for sure - he should have been able to hold off for another one or two seconds, at least. Not much, but more than enough to keep their Quirks locked down until he could capture one or both of them. Instead, he had been forced to blink earlier than expected, and Todoroki had taken the opening to make a giant glacier to hide from sight.

Two cloaked figures slipped out from a corner, making their way towards the exit.

_ Covering themselves fully to avoid Erasure, huh? _ He thought to himself as he pursued. _ It’s true that I can’t erase their Quirks if I can’t see them, but it severely limits their visibility. _

“You’re putting yourselves at a disadvantage,” he lectured as he looped his capture weapon around the cloaks’ torsos and slammed the two of them together.

Yaoyorozu threw the dummy she had been holding aside, revealing herself crouched next to a catapult loaded with a messy bundle of fabric that reminded him of his capture weapon. Wasting no time, she hit the release mechanism on the medieval weapon, launching the bundle directly at him and entangling him in it. He desperately worked to free himself - loss of mobility in close quarters was a death sentence.

“NOW, TODOROKI!”

The second cloaked figure launched a wave of blistering cold, frost immediately beginning to form on the cloth tangled around Aizawa’s limbs. As quickly as he could, he fixed his gaze on the ice-user’s exposed arm, letting his Erasure go to work and halt the attack before he could be trapped in one of Todoroki’s massive glaciers. In a swift motion, he broke the ice coating his leg, leaping back as best as he could with the cloth still wrapped around it.

Yaoyorozu had clearly miscalculated - rather than get a clean hit with his followup, Todoroki’s attack, performed blindly due to the cloak covering his face, had caused him to only just graze the teacher. Aizawa could free himself from the remaining cloth with only a little-

With a stance that would have been far more at home on a grizzled street brawler, or some extortionist from a 1980s period piece, Yaoyorozu swept forward and delivered a brutal strike to his stomach with a hand clad in a brass knuckle, doubling him over long enough for her to bind him with the capture cuffs.

* * *

“Given the circumstances,” Reiko observed, “our obvious choice is withdrawal. No matter what All Might is burdened with, we can’t hope to overcome his combat prowess.”

Izuku nodded. “Agreed. He’s always shown a weakness at tracking stealthier opponents.”

The Sludge Villain was proof of that.

“I’ll fly into the air as a decoy,” she suggested. “I’ll be able to dodge his attacks more easily while staying out of his reach, and you can make your way for the escape in the meantime. We both pass as long as one of us can escape.”

“No, the shockwaves from his punches are too wide, he’ll be able to-”

The nearest building was obliterated in a hail of rubble, the unmistakable muscle-bound silhouette of their opponent striding through the smoke before suddenly disappearing in a blur.

Before Izuku could react, All Might had slammed a massive forearm into his gut, sending him flying across the street and into another building. Most surprising of all - it _ stung _ . Not to the degree of Shiozaki’s attacks, nor did it feel like he had been struck by another youkai, but _ something _ was reinforcing the hero’s attacks. He staggered to his feet as All Might grabbed Reiko by the arm and flung her away from him, clearly aiming to separate him. From the look of surprise on her face as she used her Quirk to halt her trajectory, he had apparently wormed his way through whatever defenses she had, as well.

“Who cares about collateral damage?” All Might growled, sporting a somehow more menacing version of his trademark smile. “I’m a villain for today - if you think of this as just another test, then I won’t even have to break a sweat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told myself to save time I was only going to describe the fights with meaningful differences in them. This ended up being nearly all of them anyways.
> 
> EDIT: Tweaked the ending of the Todoroki/Yaoyorozu vs Aizawa fight to correct an oversight.


	28. Branches Reaching to the Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku and Reiko take on the Number One Hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9,967 hits - seems like just yesterday I started this fic, I only just looked at the original posting date the other day and went "Wait, that's six months ago."
> 
> The third variant of the Antinomy of Common Flowers Title theme. It's nice to listen to the variants in order and hear all the instruments get added.

All Might was an extremely competent foe, reflexes honed by years of hunting down whatever evildoers he could find on any given day. As far as Izuku could tell, the man had precious few weaknesses to exploit. The first of them was his injury - and despite being told to treat him like a real villain, there was no way Izuku was going to launch a full-strength attack at his idol’s massive torso wound. The second main weakness he could think of…

* * *

Reiko was already using her telekinesis to draw up one of her spell circles as Izuku racked his brain for options against their daunting opponent. A barrage of magical bullets hit nothing but air as All Might swiftly dodged aside.

“Damn it,” she growled to herself, voice muffled by her mask. 

He was too fast for regular bullets to realistically pose a threat at long ranges, and she couldn’t get close to him to increase her odds of hitting - he far outmatched her in close combat, and to make matters worse, she had somehow felt him  _ draining _ the magic of her protective enchantments in the brief moment he had grabbed her. No, she had to keep her distance and trust Izuku to keep him occupied up close - he’d seen her attacks before, he’d know how to dodge them.

Two more circles joined the one she was already using, projecting a pair of magical lasers that swept in towards each other, attempting to pen the hero in so he would be forced to weave through another bullet barrage rather than simply dodging around.

Instead, All Might took a third option, ducking down and under one of the lasers to slip out of the trap without any effort.

“No fair.”

She braced herself to dodge as she watched All Might’s body tense to take a massive leap at her - once he was airborne he’d be locked into a trajectory, it was nothing she couldn’t dodge. Probably.

Just as he made to jump, the ground crumbled beneath him, the force of his legs doing nothing but propelling the falling chunks of asphalt he had formerly been standing on into the abyss that had opened below him.

* * *

Perched at the very edge of the massive cavity he had just opened up under the street, Izuku grinned to himself as he watched daylight flood in through the cracks. He had predicted All Might’s location correctly after all. For all his strength, the number one hero’s power could work against him as well. It was well known All Might had to constantly restrain himself when fighting in urban environments to avoid causing massive damage, and the man himself had once commented in an interview that one of the hardest things he’d mastered was simply restraining his jumps so he wouldn’t destroy his launch site. With Izuku hollowing out the ground, and the hero cutting loose with his power more than he normally would, it was only a matter of time until All Might triggered the sinkhole.

No ground to tread on, no cover to hide behind - All Might navigated cities through massive bounds, not flight. He was absolutely vulnerable in that instant. An opening Izuku wasn’t going to overlook. Before the hero could hit the ground, a series of spikes shot from the walls, aiming as close to skewering the man as Izuku dared. 

Just as the first spike reached him, All Might immediately grabbed it and used it as leverage to send himself into a spin. The spike snapped - Izuku, foreseeing the possibility All Might would try to halt his fall, had ensured they were hollow and unable to support the hero’s weight - but it was enough for him to launch himself into a midair version of his iconic spinning Oklahoma Smash, destroying the other spikes as they reached him before landing safely at the bottom of the sinkhole.

“Not a bad trap, young Midoriya!” All Might commended, “But you’ve forgotten that mining-themed pop idol Villain I fought in the Silver Age!”

“Dwarf Starlet?” She was one of the weirder villains he had fought. But then, All Might’s Silver Age had a lot of weird villains.

“Indeed! Tunnel fighting is second nature to me after that!”

He launched himself off the floor of the pit at an angle, pushing off the wall to launch directly at Izuku. Rather than try to evade, Izuku put every bit of defensive training Byakuren had given him to the test, bracing for impact.

The pain was immense, but it didn’t feel like anything was broken - All Might had simply struck with more force than Izuku had felt in ages. The trap was set, however. Izuku allowed himself to indulge in a bit of gloating as he willed the ground to liquefy around him.

“Say, tell me, All Might - did you know that natural gas is odorless?” Izuku asked, grinning as he caught a flash of light from the sky. There was Reiko, just as expected. “I filled the spikes I shot at you earlier with it.”

He slipped into the earth, slowly and awkwardly swimming through the liquid earth as he felt the shockwave rip through him with little effect on his youkai physiology.

_ I need to practice this more, _ he decided, grimacing at his slow progress.

* * *

Firing a laser into the sinkhole after All Might was the logical move - he wouldn’t be able to dodge as easily in the tight quarters, and she could easily sweep her lasers around to make it harder for him to evade. The explosion caught her completely off-guard.

For a brief instant, she even wondered whether he was okay - let herself think that maybe, somehow, she had accidentally done what decades of villains had tried and failed to do. The unmistakable silhouette that appeared from the smoke at the edge of the pit put an end to that worry.

“The two of you certainly seem to work well, young Yanagi,” All Might said, “But then - you seem as surprised as I was at young Midoriya’s gas trap.”

He vanished in a blur of movement before slamming a fist into her stomach, doubling her over in pain.

“I can’t have you harassing me while I deal with Midoriya,” he declared, disappearing briefly and returning with a broken segment of metal fence. “So I’ll just restrain you while I stop him from escaping.”

She flinched as he slammed the metal fence into the ground over her, firmly embedding it in the asphalt before taking off into the sky with another leap.

* * *

All Might quickly weighed the most likely scenarios in his head as he soared through the air. Midoriya was almost certainly trying to escape - if his goal was to keep up the offensive, he would have interrupted when Yanagi was in trouble. Instead, he judged the situation hopeless enough to break off combat. So he was certainly heading for the exit, it was just a matter of what route he would pick.

All Might had absolutely no idea where he could be, so instead he just slammed the ground with as much force as he could summon up, aiming to disrupt the terrain as much as possible to try to force Midoriya to the surface. And while it failed to do so, it revealed the half-youkai’s presence in another way: as he slipped through the ground by liquefying and resolidifying the earth around him, the cracked pavement above him shifted, making the burrowing student’s path as clear as footprints in fresh snow.

The moment he was close enough, All Might thrust an arm into the ground and clasped his hand firmly around the boy’s wrist, tearing him from the soil before sending him flying across the street with a mighty kick.

* * *

Sputtering, Izuku rose to his feet as All Might approached. He had misjudged the situation, clearly - the lack of fire support from Yanagi meant that she had been taken off-guard by the explosion and let herself be captured, while his own underground movements had been tracked. Thus, instead of two people able to possibly escape, there were none. He readied himself for the inevitable physical assault.

All Might’s attacks came fast and strong, and each one was like a hit from Suika - blocking was not an option, not unassisted. He needed shielding. As his Ability flared up, the simple cloth of his costume’s samue shifted, running through every form of armor he could think of - padding, kevlar, steel plate armor, thick plating that wouldn’t be out of place on a battleship, none of it could stand up against All Might’s assault and so he reached ever further with his Ability, trying to find something he could use to weather the storm.

Suddenly, a momentary flash of confusion crossed the hero’s face, a single drop of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth as the rain of blows began to slow and weaken. Beads of sweat formed on the hero’s brow as he tried to keep up his momentum, slowly giving way to small wisps of smoke and full-on tendrils of steam-like vapor.

Izuku recognized the tells for what they were - how could he forget that fateful day? All Might was out of time. He prepared himself to drop his defenses and grab the capture cuffs, ready to end the battle. Then, his heart stopped as he saw motion in the distance.

Standing at the end of the street and panting with exhaustion, Reiko finished her magic circle and solemnly invoked her spell.

“ Afterlife Sign: Sinner’s Vaitarna ”

Almost in slow motion, he watched Reiko launch her attack as All Might exploded into smoke. With inhuman swiftness, he leapt at the hero, desperately hoping he would reach the man before her laser fired.

The beam of Reiko’s attack swept over him as he slammed into the withered hero and the two of them toppled to the ground, but whether due to determination, adrenaline, or single-minded focus, Izuku didn't feel a thing.

* * *

The instant she fired and Izuku dodged into her beam, Reiko knew something was wrong. Flying to her target area as fast as she could, she stopped and gaped at the scene. The entire area was scorched - an expected result of her attack - save for a small area around Midoriya himself, who was on top of a skeletal man who had apparently been tackled to the ground by the boy. For a second she feared the worst, as blood could be seen spattered around the pair. Then the man coughed and sat up, two long tendrils of hair flopping over his head just enough to make him recognizable as…

“All Might?” She asked, hesitantly. “Is… is that you?”

Toshinori Yagi let out a sigh. “Yes, young Yanagi, it is. This may be a bit sudden, but could I ask you not to reveal this form of mine to the world?”

* * *

Nezu’s mind raced with possible explanations as he stared at the screen in disbelief. He had specifically instructed All Might to conserve his energy for the day, even arranged for increased hero presence in the area to alleviate the man’s concerns that villain activity might rise in response. A quick check on one of the several dozen fan sites that obsessively tracked the number one hero’s every move confirmed that he hadn't gone out crime fighting earlier that day, so he should have still had plenty of time left.

Next possibility: either Midoriya or Yanagi had done something. Possible, but unlikely. If it was within their powers, they would have done it sooner rather than later - no sense in risking defeat by holding back, and both of them were smart enough not to chance it.

Outside intervention was possible, but not something to reasonably consider. If something had been interfering with the battle and hadn't tripped any sensors, then it could only be assumed that no solid evidence would be left anyways. Nezu discarded the possibility.

Finally, the most worrying scenario: his amateurish magical setup had interacted badly with One For All. He was an idiot - the age of magic had been long before the rise of quirks, there was no reason to assume they'd interact cleanly. And even among quirks, One For All was an outlier, the rules governing it still unclear despite being passed down among eight (now nine) holders. All Might had passed it on, but still had some lingering remnants of it - would Nezu’s setup have the same detrimental effects on Kirishima? Would it have similar effects on anyone with an enhancement quirk? Was this outcome just an outlier stemming from All Might's unique situation? Would this have permanent effects on the hero?

He could be certain with further tests, yes. But that would risk too much. One For All was too important, too central to heroic society's continued stability. If his thoughtlessness had already caused some harm…

An alarm light blinking on his modified crane's control panel snapped him out of his thoughts. Somehow, Ashido and Kaminari had navigated his traps far faster than anticipated and were quickly nearing the exit. He quickly shot into action, paws flying across the controls to manipulate the machinery as he pleased even as High Spec churned into overdrive to calculate the most effective way to get his desired results. Walls came crumbling down, piping and scaffolding collapsed, debris was knocked aside, all with the singular, overriding goal of blocking their escape route as effectively as possible.

The whole time, he was multitasking, rapidly flipping through the viewpoints on the cameras he had been neglecting, the video feeds that tracked the progress of the students he  _ should _ have been testing. His traps had been carefully calculated to block their passage and drain their quirks - he had to have somehow overlooked something, missed some aspect of how they would interact. He was triple-checking all the physical calculations in his head when he saw it.

One of the earliest traps, meant to taunt them by sealing off the easiest, most direct path to the exit, jammed just enough to let them pass through and skip a full third of the gauntlet. The culprit: a ruptured bag of what appeared to be a simply massive quantity of store-bought batteries of all varieties, from button cell batteries all the way up to Ds and what appeared to be at least one car battery.

Ashido, still holding on to some reserves, melted through the last of his debris, securing the team's victory. That didn't matter to Nezu. He sat there in stunned silence.

Kaminari was eccentric at times, sure, but he’d never have done something like that without outside intervention - the amount of batteries involved would be tremendously expensive. Either he was told in advance to prepare in that way, or someone had influenced him to make him do so of his own accord, and that meant only one thing:

Nezu had been thoroughly outmaneuvered by an opponent he had never even seen coming.

* * *

“Now, as you can see, there’s absolutely nothing up my sleeves…”

Elis watched Mr. Compress entertaining the League’s latest crop of recruits with clear distaste.

“He rubs me the wrong way too,” the gas-masked middle schooler known as Mustard offered, lazing on the couch next to the demon. “Thinking he can trick people with sleight of hand. Doesn’t he know only rubes fall for those?”

“They wouldn’t have let him clean the stands after a stage play back where I’m from,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “He’s not just a disgrace to the art of magic, he’s boring, too.”

If Compress heard their heckling, he made no sign of it as he made a big show of snapping his fingers. As he did so, a katana appeared in his hand. The lizard-like villain Spinner clapped heartily.

“Oh for the love of- it’s just his Quirk!” Mustard exclaimed. “He compresses things into marbles, of course he can hide a sword! There’s not even anything hard about the tricks he’s doing!”

Turning his head towards the League’s youngest member, Compress slyly replied, “I imagine you’d have no trouble replicating my tricks, then.”

Mustard turned his head towards Elis in a silent plea for her to save him from the impending embarrassment when Kurogiri spoke up.

“Miss Elis, Shigaraki wanted to speak with you in the back room.”

Standing, she stretched her wings, smirking to herself as Compress had to duck away from the leathery appendages and lost his hat in the process.

* * *

“You wanted to see me?”

The scrawny villain seemed genuinely at a loss for words for a moment. Clearly, he hadn’t planned what he was going to say. At last, he began.

“You… lead an organization, right?”

“Eh, kinda?” she scratched her head. “I’m fairly hands-off about things, really. I just planted the seed and the members did the rest.”

“How do you do it?” He asked, a genuine need in his eyes. “Every day, every week since our first action, I’ve been checking the papers, but there’s nothing about us! After we intruded on UA grounds, after USJ, after Hosu - not a single paper’s been reporting on our activities, but they’ve been reporting on those trainee heroes, Stain, and your cult’s activity just fine! We’re all just getting rid of the things we dislike, what’s the difference!”

In a fit of frustration, he seized his game controller and disintegrated it, letting the dust flow through his fingers as he calmed down from his outburst.

“As I see it, there’s one important thing you still don’t have,” Elis replied.

“And that is?”

“A credo,” she stated simply. “The heroes have one implicitly - they’re the protectors of society, the people who make things safe for everyone. Stain had one - to purge ‘unworthy’ heroes. The Church of the Winged Void has one - holding that self-harming quirks are a gift from their god and a sign of divine favor. You need something for people to believe in, or they’ll just treat you like any other lunatic.”

“A credo, huh… I think I understand. And you?”

“What about me?” she asked sweetly.

“You were very clear not to include yourself while talking about your cult - what do  _ you _ believe in?”

A vicious, cruel smile split her face.

“Power, as much as I can get, no matter who I have to trample to get it.”

* * *

“We all managed to win, somehow…” Hagakure’s floating uniform sighed in relief.

“The odds stacked against us were formidable in many cases,” Tokoyami agreed, “Though some of our classmates may disagree.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WORTHLESS DEKU FOUGHT AND BEAT ALL MIGHT!?” Bakugou demanded.

“I mean just that, man!” Kaminari replied, his voice nearly as loud, if not as rough.

“LOSER PROBABLY RAN AWAY!” came the screaming reply. “DEKU! YOU AND ME! AFTER CLASS! I’M GOING TO BEAT YOUR WORTHLESS-”

“That was the bell just now,” Aizawa forcefully interrupted, the chatter immediately dying. “With regards to the final exams, you all performed acceptably. Everyone cleared both the written and practical portions of the exam.”

“As the villains,” he continued, “we teachers came up with assignments intended to counter you that would still allow you to devise a strategy to turn the tables. Needless to say, if we hadn’t done so, none of you would have stood a chance.”

Ojiro reasoned, “So when you said you intended to crush us utterly…”

“That was to push you. We’re talking about a  _ training  _ camp, after all. The point of the practical portions was to judge your progress since the beginning of the year and set a level for the exercises you’ll be undergoing at the camp. Don’t expect it to be some relaxing weekend. With that said, I’ll now be passing out packing lists for everything you’ll be expected to have at the camp. You are, of course, free to bring additional supplies if you’re willing to carry them.”

As the lists were being passed around, Yaoyorozu spoke up. “Considering we all have the day off tomorrow in light of finals having ended, would anyone be interested in a shopping trip to collect any items we need?”

“Can’t you just create anything you need?” Kaminari wondered. Immediately, he was attacked by both Ashido and Jirou.

“She’s being nice!” “She’s proposing a class activity!”

* * *

Izuku looked excitedly around at all the offerings of Kiyashi shopping mall as the class began to split up. Truthfully, he was in a similar situation to Yaoyorozu, where his Ability meant he didn’t actually  _ need _ to buy anything, but he wasn’t going to be the sole person staying behind during a class outing. Especially if it meant he could spend time with Uraraka.

“So is there anything you particularly need?” he asked. “I basically have everything, so…”

“Oh! Actually, I was, uh, wondering if…” she trailed off into a mumble.

“Hm?”

“I need to pick up a new razor,” she admitted quietly. “The old one got clogged - I’m going through them too fast.”

“Razor? Why would you- OH! Oh, yeah, certainly - I think the best place for one would probably be that shop over there, they seem to specialize in goods for people with transformation quirks, we could see if they have one for animal forms?”

“Yeah,” she replied, grabbing his arm and hugging it to her. “I’m not as knowledgeable about Quirks as you, so feel free to explain which ones you think are the best.”

As they wandered off into the crowd, they were ignorant of Ashido Mina’s probing eyes watching them from a second floor walkway.

* * *

Wolfram looked across the table at the sleazy underworld broker he was dealing with. From a crooked smile with a missing tooth to his ragged facial hair to his cigarette, Giran looked every bit the part of a criminal. Something that Wolfram himself had taken great pains to avoid.

“This is safe, right? You’ve vetted this client of yours?” he pressed. “If my crew and I are outed as villains, our whole plan goes to hell, and you know who’s backing us.”

“Relax,” Giran said, calmly taking the cigarette from his mouth and extinguishing it in the ashtray. “My client has just as much interest as you do in remaining anonymous - moreso, perhaps, considering she intends to return to the public eye at some point.”

“She’s asking for a massive amount - far more than I’d reasonably need to hire a hacker, and all up front, too,” he tried.

“If you think she’s out of your price range,” the broker replied, “then you’re welcome to grab someone who’ll just get you into the system. What my client is offering goes beyond that - you hire her, you consider that security system  _ yours _ .”

“I want to meet with her.”

The smile vanished from Giran’s face. “She was very clear about that - remote only. She won’t show her face to any villains.”

“Then I can only offer two thirds of what she’s asking for. Take it or leave it - I could get two hackers and four more grunts for even that.”

“Your offer is acceptable,” the tinny sound of a woman’s voice replied, played over cheap speakers. Giran and Wolfram exchanged a look.

“As a demonstration of my ability, the fact that I was able to isolate your burner phone and remotely have it call me should suffice,” she continued.

Wolfram grabbed the suitcase of cash he had risked bringing to the meeting, flipping it open and picking out the amount he needed (more than he had hoped) before tossing the money to Giran. “I sincerely hope you’re worth the money, Miss…”

“Call me Strawberry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one of Reiko's spell cards makes its appearance! Just like the first, it's got an afterlife theme to it - this one is named for the Vaitarna/Vaitarani River, which in Hindu religious texts is stated to lie between earth and the city of Yama, Hindu god of death. A good person doesn't have to cross the river. If a sinner has done some good deeds, they can procure a boat to cross after a while. If a sinner has a real spiritual guru, they can cross with the aid of their guru, and if a sinner cannot cross with the above methods, then they either have to wait many years until allowed to cross, or, they will get bodily dragged through the river by Yama's servants.


	29. Blizzard of Scattering Possession Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> UA's students enjoy a relaxing break at I-Island just in time for its annual expo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 333 kudos as of the time I posted this - a lovely, clean number.
> 
> You probably saw this coming, but the chapter title is the fourth and final variant of Antinomy of Common Flowers' title theme. It worked out quite nicely that I could have some developments in each of the three prior chapters that would justify using each variant in order as titles.

Mamizou had apparently seen fit to hand Izuku and Uraraka an easy win for the day, electing to “test their crowd combat”. If UA faculty were difficult opponents, and Reisen a nigh-untouchable fighter, the rabble of Fairies the tanuki had enlisted were the complete opposite, a loosely-aligned group united solely by the common goal of winning some snacks should they come out victorious.

Izuku half-suspected that this doubled as a measure to keep their spirits high by giving them someone they could beat rather than yet another day of fighting air and hallucinations. Regardless, he had to admit it did feel good to tear through fairies left and right.

Made him feel powerful.

And the knowledge that nothing he could do had any hope of actually causing lasting harm to the nature spirits didn’t hurt, either.

Before long, the only ones left standing in the temple graveyard were him, Uraraka, and Mamizou, who was leaning against a tree, slouching lightly to keep her head below the cloud that had, until recently, been a group of about twenty-odd fairies.

“So, Izuku, Ochako, you two’re heroes in training, yeah?” the tanuki asked, a sly grin on her face. “Probably into heroics stuff in general, I’m guessing?”

“Yes…” Izuku hesitantly responded, slightly apprehensive about what the trickster youkai might be planning. He knew for a fact that she already knew he loved hero stuff.

“Good!” she exclaimed with a massively over-acted show of fake relief, casually retrieving a pair of slips of paper from their place at her waist. “I was worried that I picked these tickets for nothing.”

“These are tickets to I-Expo,” he choked out after a moment. “ _ VIP  _ tickets to I-Expo.”

Uraraka nearly choked on her tea. “V- VIP tickets!?” she managed between coughs and gasps for breath. “Those aren’t even purchasable by the public!”

“But they  _ are _ available to donors,” Mamizou replied. “And it just so happens that one ‘Muji Naoko’ is a rather prolific donor. I’ve just never actually taken them up on the ticket offer before.”

“You’ve got an alias other than ‘Midoriya Hisashi’?” Izuku asked.

“I’ve got more than a dozen, actually. I made a lot of my more profitable investments under various pseudonyms to make them harder to trace. Shapeshifter and moneylender, remember?”

“Oh, right.”

“Anyways, those’re good for the whole thing - you get a good room, admission for the early access day when it’s not open to the public yet, a spot at the party they hold for people to schmooze with pro heroes, priority access for signing events, the works. They’re yers, if you want ‘em.”

“We can really have them?” Uraraka asked, not quite sure this was really happening.

“The hell am I gonna use ‘em for? I spend most of my time in Gensokyo and when I’m in the Outside World I want to  _ avoid _ the spotlight, not bask in it. A fancy dress party’s the last thing I want to go to. Got enough of those back in the 1980s, anyways.”

Izuku looked like he was about to burst as he frantically bowed in gratitude. “Thank you so much, really!”

“Wait, can we take stuff out of the dream?” Uraraka wondered. “I know you said Miss Usami could, but isn’t she a weird case?”

“Oh, right, we need to test that!” he realized, promptly vanishing and taking the tickets with him. Uraraka vanished soon after, presumably roused by Izuku’s intervention.

“...they didn’t look at the room I booked them,” Mamizou sulked.

“I mean, what’s it matter to you, really?” Nue wondered from her position reclining in the tree branches. “They’re getting the same room whether they look at the reservation now or when they check in.”

“Y’see, that’s always been one of the few things we disagree on,” the tanuki sighed, grabbing her kiseru and lighting up. “You think it’s fine that someone gets pranked, regardless of the reaction. I say the reaction’s half the fun.”

* * *

“...she gave us a single room,” Izuku realized, staring blankly at the admittedly lavish suite Mamizou had reserved. From what little of her face he could see past her hands, Uraraka was a bright shade of crimson.

“We could go back down to the desk and see if they could change us out for two single rooms?” He offered.

“No, they’re definitely booked.”

“You’re right,” he sighed. “At least we have until tonight to figure out our sleeping arrangements - what do you want to see first?”

* * *

Silence hung in the airplane’s cabin for a moment, until Kirishima finally said the only thing he could.

“No way.”

“I’m afraid so, young Kirishima,” All Might replied, a grave tone to his voice. “The worst part is, it snuck up on me - normally, I can tell when I’m running out of time. It feels somewhat like running out of stamina, when you can feel the exhaustion starting to set in. This time, however, it came out of nowhere. One moment, I was at full power, and the next, I was running on fumes.”

“So they know, then? Midoriya and Yanagi?”

“Only about my true form,” he assured the boy. “I didn’t tell them about One For All, or your status as my successor.”

“Still, with your time getting shorter and shorter…”

“Nezu was worried about that too,” All Might admitted. “We decided it was best for me to accept an invitation to I-Expo I had received from an old friend, so he could check me over. He’s one of the most highly-regarded support specialists in the business - have you ever heard of David Shield?”

Kirishima gave a helpless shrug.

“Ha! Well, consider this a lesson in networking, then, young Kirishima!”

* * *

“We’ve infiltrated the expo without any problems,” Wolfram reported. “When does the equipment arrive?”

_ “Three PM,” _ the garbled voice of his benefactor reported.  _ “Gate 66.” _

“Then we’ll be waiting,” he confirmed.

“Not willing to trust your nominal employer, I see,” their hired hacker Strawberry commented over his comms. “Planning for every contingency - I like that.”

“You should be careful where you poke your nose,” the scarred villain replied, quietly to avoid people overhearing him.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”

* * *

Izuku was like a kid in a candy store as he strolled around the expo grounds, eyes sparkling at every sight.

“The pictures really don’t do this place justice,” he breathed. “I never thought I’d really be able to attend.”

“Whoa, look at that hero over there!” Uraraka exclaimed.

“That’s Godzillo, the Monster Hero! His Quirk gives him enhanced strength and the ability to produce nutrients through photosynthesis, but as a mutation-type, it can’t be turned off! As a result of the massive amount of energy he needs, he tends to enter a torpor-like state at night, so most villains in areas he’s in tend to quickly shift their hours of activity!”

“Yeah, but there’s plenty of data indicating that he’s also a massive deterrent,” a passing cosplayer commented. “And a lot of the heroes in areas he visits tend to also shift their own hours since he’s so effective at scaring villains away.”

“That was kind of odd,” Uraraka commented while watching the cosplayer walk away.

“I wonder why they got the color wrong on the pants,” Izuku idly wondered. “They went to all the trouble of making that Ms. Joke costume - they even got the gloves right.”

* * *

David Shield was gaped in horror at the readings on his screen. “Toshi… what in the world happened to you? Even with the injuries you sustained from All For One, you shouldn’t be declining so rapidly.”

Coughing, All Might weakly offered, “I suppose being as active a hero as I am catches up to you after a while.”

“Your readings have leveled out in the last few months, but they’re still nothing short of catastrophic,” the scientist replied grimly.

“Wait, leveled out?” All Might asked. “I ran out of time far earlier than normal the other day.”

“Your readings have been stable for the past month and a half,” David confirmed. “Outside of the tremendous drop I’m seeing nearly a year ago, there’s nothing about that incident that should be caused by your quirk or a decline in its ability.”

“That’s good,” Toshinori replied. “I can still be All Might for a few hours a day, then.”

He didn’t notice the way his friend’s hand clenched in frustration at that.

* * *

_ I think my mission out here can wait a little longer, _ the pestilence goddess thought to herself.  _ After all, this sort of opportunity rarely comes around. It would be a shame to waste it, when my gracious host went to so much trouble to arrange this. _

She stretched out her influence, pouring it into her unwitting vessel.  _ I'll be taking over now, thank you very much. _

Stretching her new arms out and looking at the backs of her hands, she chuckled to herself in a voice that was not her own.

“Now - let’s enjoy the high life, shall we?”

* * *

“So we just plug this into the computer, right?” One of Wolfram’s hired goons asked. “Simple as that? No fancy tech tricks we gotta do on our end?”

“Yes,” Strawberry sighed. “Yes, all you have to do is plug it in, I can do the rest. I’m starting to see why your boss decided he needed a hired hacker.”

Grumbling to himself at the berating, the thug complied.

A short tapping of keys on the other end of the line, and their hacker let out an exasperated “Oh, you  _ morons _ .”

“Hey, if you have a problem with how we’re working you can fly out here and do things yourself.”

“Not that, you idiot,” she snapped. “These ‘geniuses’ skimped on system security - I can see every device on their network from here. You’re sure David Shield won't be a problem, right?”

“Trust me, he won’t interfere,” Wolfram replied. “By the time it’s clear we’re not the actors he thought we were, it’ll be too late.”

“Good. He’s about the only person there who I think could detect me poking around the systems. I’ll keep you updated on anything I think you should know about, then.”

* * *

After long deliberation, Izuku decided to wear a simple, yet formal, dark green suit, while Uraraka had elected to go for a pink-and-white, slightly frilly dress, both of them thanking their lucky stars Izuku’s Ability was so versatile - they’d have never managed to get formal clothes on short notice with their budgets otherwise. Unfortunately, the time wasted choosing their outfits had caused them to miss the reception’s start time.

As a result, the two of them hurried into the main lobby of I-Island’s central tower a little after 6:30 PM, moving as fast as they were comfortable in their formal wear and nearly colliding with a certain blond classmate of theirs.

“Oh, Midoriya, Uraraka, you’re here too?” Kaminari asked. Aside from him, Todoroki and Iida were also present in the lobby.

“Honestly, does a proper schedule mean nothing to you people? Even Midoriya and Uraraka were able to show up on time, and I didn’t even know they were  _ at _ the expo!” Iida exclaimed in frustration.

“We were wandering around the expo grounds all day,” Uraraka explained to Kaminari, ignoring the class president’s outburst.

“Ah, yeah, that makes sense, it’s a big expo. It was honestly pure luck I ran into the others - I took a job as a waiter.”

“Others? Who else is-”

“My apologies for being late,” Yaoyorozu said as she walked through the door, clad in a relatively simple green dress and a simple gold necklace. “Jirou was being shy.”

“This is fancier than anything I’ve ever worn before,” the earjacked girl admitted.

“Oh good, I was worried I was going to miss you guys!” A blonde young woman exclaimed as she ran up.

“Oh, that’s right,” Yaoyorozu realized. “You haven’t met yet, have you? This is Melissa Shield, she was showing Kirishima around the expo earlier.”

“Shield? As in  _ David _ Shield, renowned professor and All Might’s personal support specialist?” Izuku practically squealed. “He’s designed all of All Might’s costumes over time! He’s regarded as one of the greatest geniuses ever to grace the field, I’ve kept an eye on his work ever since All Might mentioned him in an interview back in-”

Iida tapped at his phone again while Izuku was busy overwhelming Melissa. “You didn’t see Bakugou or Kirishima on the way over, did you?”

“I’d have heard it if Midoriya and Bakugou crossed paths,” Jirou replied.

“Neither of them are picking up their phones - knowing them they’re just blowing off the party,” he grumbled.

* * *

“Do it,” Wolfram commanded, his voice crisp and clear through the high-quality speakers.

Okazaki Yumemi, former Professor of Physics at Yabin University, grabbed a chocolate-dipped strawberry from the box next to her computer before popping the snack into her mouth.

“Alright then,” she said, stretching her fingers out. “I’m going to trigger the explosives alert - it’s the only protocol they’ve got that puts the entire island on lockdown without sending out an SOS. From there I’ll have remote control of all their security drones.”

She barely gave a thought to what she was doing as her non-dominant hand flew across the keyboard to trigger the alert. What she was staring at on her main monitor was the real prize. Muting her microphone, she slid I-Island’s security feed to a secondary screen and maximized the schematics that had caught her eye.

“Chiyuri! Chiyuri, get in here and tell me what’s wrong with this picture!”

“Coming, professor!”

Yumemi’s blonde-haired assistant, Kitashirakawa Chiyuri, popped into the room, her white sailor fuku slightly dirty from the machinery she had been fiddling with. “What is it, professor?”

“Look at this blueprint here. Tell me what’s wrong.”

The younger girl spent a moment humming in contemplation before her eyes widened with realization. “Someone’s trying to reverse-engineer enchantments from old writings!”

The red-headed ex-professor nodded. “Principal Nezu of UA High School, no less. He signed it, but this sort of thing is clearly his work anyways. He’s working off of a variety of sources - I’m seeing a mixture of magical runes and written sutras, all mashed together with a mixture of materials commonly said to be handy against the supernatural, apparently with the intent of covering his bases. It  _ would _ work, too. But…”

“But?” Chiyuri asked, clearly not quite realizing where her professor was going with this.

“There’s no power source,” Yumemi explained. “Runes are scribed by masters and apprentices because they can imbue it with magic while it’s being made, otherwise they just sit there uselessly like a TV remote with a dead battery. And from the looks of this setup, I can pretty much guarantee he didn’t have a proper mage helping him with this.”

“He’s set the inscriptions in parallel,” the blonde realized, “like an electrical circuit.”

“No older documents ever mention mixing runes, and there’s a reason for that. It’s inefficient - dilutes the spell, massively increases the amount of magic it needs to actually do what it’s supposed to. Whatever he wanted it to do, I think we can safely say this abomination of a setup won’t be able to do it. At best, the sutras might help you punch a ghost or something.”

She popped another strawberry into her mouth. “Anyways, how’s the prototype going? Do we need more parts?”

“Might need a few more,” Chiyuri replied, “but I think it’s starting to shape up. I’ll need you to help me with some of the trickier equations, but we might be ready to do some test runs soon.”

“We’ll need some data to calibrate with, though,” Yumemi sighed. “And until we get that, we’re stuck. Good work, regardless.”

“Thanks, professor.”

* * *

“In case any of you don’t understand what’s going on here,” Wolfram explained as he and his hired muscle strolled into the middle of the party, “The security system is now under our complete control. If any of you heroes decide to make a scene, we won’t hesitate to set the security drones on the ‘dangerous criminals’ here for the expo. As of now, everyone on this island is our hostage.”

A series of devices emerged from the floor before shooting glowing blue cables at the nearby heroes, binding them tightly and forcing them to the floor.

“Naturally,” the villain continued, “This includes all of you.” 

Seeing All Might was struggling to escape the binds, he fired a pistol into the ceiling to send a message. “Make any funny moves and I’ll kill everyone in this room. Do you really think you can escape and take me down before anyone gets hurt?”

“What are you planning!?” One of the other restrained heroes demanded.

“Do you not know how to listen?” Wolfram growled, planting his boot firmly into the hero’s face and sending them sprawling to the ground. “Stay down, stay quiet, and everyone walks away.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Strawberry said through his earpiece, “but that vault you wanted to get into has a physical lock. You’ll need someone with access credentials.”

“Got it.” He looked over the crowd, singling out two of the highest-ranking researchers present. “You two! Tubby and David Shield. You’re coming with me.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then your beloved daughter will pay the price.”

Ignorant that the few people on the island who had escaped his net were currently watching him and listening in, Wolfram took a few of his guards and left the room with the two scientists.

* * *

“Hey, boss.”

Wolfram was starting to tire of the hacker’s constant interruptions.

“Just thought you might want to know a door just opened on the eightieth floor,” she said. “Looks like some of the kids from UA somehow found their way into the tower.”

“What? I thought you said this system was as good as ours!”

“Would you prefer I  _ not _ keep an eye on the nearly fifty pro heroes who weren’t at the banquet?”

He growled. “Try to trap them on the eightieth floor with the barriers.”

“Sure,” she replied nonchalantly, “But they’ve got that Midoriya kid with them, so the doors won’t be useful. I’d suggest you send someone fast if you want to keep them from getting away.”

“Daigo and I’ll go, boss,” the nasally voice of Nobu came over the intercom. “You just keep the plan going on schedule.”

* * *

Now that Kaminari had carelessly opened a door and alerted the system to their presence, all pretense of stealth by the group of would-be heroes had been dropped. Every barrier barring their path had yielded before Izuku’s Ability, ultimately serving as no more of a hindrance than a bead curtain.

“This floor is built around a biodome,” Melissa explained, “to test out various support items relating to plants. All of the stairs up are accessed from the central area. There’s also an elevator in the center, but with the system on lockdown we have no way to use it,” she replied. “Midoriya could get us through the reinforcement, but without the car there it’s useless to us.”

“Plus, it’s in use,” Todoroki observed.

“What? Hide!”

The elevator opened to let out a pair of villains - a short, stocky man with a round head and a nearly-flat head of hair, and a tall, skinny man with an almost goatlike head with a mohawk and goatee.

“They must have been sent after us when we tripped the system,” Izuku realized.

As if to confirm his suspicions, the taller of the pair turned and used his quirk on the elevator, scooping at the air with enlarged hands that seemed to slice away the space where they touched. A few scoops, and the elevator car finally gave a shriek of protesting metal as what remained of it began to slide down the shaft.

“I was hoping it would just fall down the shaft when I cut the cord,” he grumbled, his voice high and nasally.

“Those things are made with redundant safety features,” his partner replied. “When the cable is cut they’ve still got inertial brakes, electromagnetic brakes, and, although they wouldn’t be relevant to this situation, automatic brakes towards the top and bottom of the shaft. There’s also usually a shock absorber at the bottom of the shaft, as a final resort in-” He was cut off by an elbow to his side.

“We’ve got company.” Raising his voice, he continued, “Hey! We see you, you stupid kids!”

Izuku’s heart practically stopped.

“What the hell did you say?” Replied Bakugou’s unmistakable growl.

“ _ Bakugou? _ ” Kaminari whispered in disbelief.

“What’re you two doing here?” the shorter villain demanded.

“We, uh, sorta got lost on our way to the party,” Kirishima replied, trying to defuse the situation. “Would you be able to point us in the right direction?”

Enlarging his hands again, the skinnier villain cried out, “Don’t lie to us, kid!” as he lunged forward with his destructive quirk, only for a wall of ice to intercept him courtesy of Todoroki.

“Todoroki!?” Bakugou shouted.

“You guys keep going, we’ve got this under control,” the ice-user instructed, sending the rest of the students riding towards the ceiling on a pillar of ice. As they ran for the edge of the room, Izuku watched the shorter villain turn into a hulking purple monstrosity before leaping forward, sending Kirishima flying with a backhanded slam as the brute charged Bakugou. The Hardening user careened wildly across the floor - directly through the open elevator shaft.

Izuku forced himself to turn his attention back to the security shutter. Fighting wouldn’t save the day, and as much as he wanted to help, there was something his Ability was far better suited to.

* * *

“Hey, boss, they’ve made it past the eightieth floor,” the hacker reported. “Your goons didn’t stop that Midoriya kid at all.”

Wolfram nearly tore his earpiece out in rage.

“If that Midoriya kid is really so hard to contain, then just raise all the security barriers from there to the 130th floor and set up an ambush for them!”

“Might be tricky to ambush a power like his with a bunch of robots - they’ll literally be made of tissue paper against him.”

“You’re smart, figure it out!”

* * *

Yumemi smiled to herself as she simply replied, “Say no more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Izuku here is sorta impossible to stop with physical barriers, as Wolfram is discovering to his chagrin.
> 
> Not too much for me to say this chapter, considering a lot of it was mostly retreads or slight variants of the canon events at I-Island. Retreading stuff always feels like pulling teeth to me. On the plus side, the fact that this took more text than I expected means I ended up putting off the reveal of who Joon's possessing until next chapter.


	30. Tonight Stars an Easygoing Egoist ~ Egoistic Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The I-Island Incident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearly 11k hits now - I don't have anything particularly witty to say about that number, so I'll just say, as always, that I really appreciate you guys' support.
> 
> Shameful to say, this chapter went up slightly later than my usual time because I spent entirely too much time attempting to catch an Oarfish in Animal Crossing.
> 
> Chapter title is Yorigami Joon's boss theme from Antinomy of Common Flowers, wrapping up my five chapter title buildup.

After being intercepted on the eightieth floor, progress was surprisingly swift, in large part due to a total lack of security barriers or impediments of any kind.

“This isn’t right,” Melissa worried. “We’re progressing far too quickly - there should be security shutters on each of these floors.”

“I mean, maybe they decided not to bother since Midoriya was making so much progress?” Kaminari asked.

Melissa shook her head. “They activated the lockdown protocol - they would have had to go back through the system and manually lift security on each floor.”

“They clearly want to stop us,” Izuku agreed. “If they’re not trying to wear us down right now, they’re probably trying to lure us into a trap. What sort of equipment does the security system have?”

“The bulk of the response force consists of drones made for capture - they’re armed with high strength cable able to restrain 90% of strength enhancement quirks. Defensively, they’re designed to handle a similar level of strength, as well as being treated for protection against most common emitter types.”

“So Kaminari’s probably useless, then.” Jirou observed, ignoring the squawk of protest from the electricity user.

Melissa nodded. “If we haven’t run into any of the drones yet, it’s likely whoever’s hijacked the security system has recalled them to one location. We’ll probably have to fight them - and a lot of them - soon.

* * *

Their progress continued completely unhindered until they reached the 130th floor, dominated by a single large high-ceilinged room with a series of walkways around a generator.

“What is this place?” Kaminari wondered.

“A robotics laboratory,” Melissa replied. “It’s a huge power drain, so it has its own dedicated generator.”

As they cautiously advanced into the room, the security shutter slammed shut behind them. Immediately, security drones rushed in from the remaining entrances and dropped from the ceiling above them.

“Ambush!” Iida shouted, observing the obvious.

* * *

Yumemi wore a manic grin as her hands whipped across the keyboard, shooting commands to the security system as fast as she thought of them. An ordinary hacker would be able to get into the system, but would leave the drones to AI control. A useful enough strategy for civilians who slipped the net, but against a group of UA students who had seen combat before? She had no faith in the robots to do their jobs without her intervention. She hadn’t designed this system, after all.

Packs of drones on each flank to make sure the Iida kid wouldn’t have the run of the place. Another pack to hang back and intercept Uraraka with their restraining cables if she tried any anti-gravity tricks. From what Yumemi had seen from the Sports Festival, Jirou’s quirk had limited offensive ability outside of melee range - possibly extendable with the use of audio equipment, given the appearance of her mutated earlobes, but the poor girl had come expecting a party, not combat. Yumemi made sure to keep a few drones in reserve in case Jirou’s offensive capability was greater than expected.

The drones were designed to fight people with a variety of emitter quirks and were reasonably shielded against electricity, making Kaminari a nonissue. Left were Yaoyorozu and Midoriya, both of whose powers were difficult to counter even when one had the opportunity to prepare for fighting them. Ideally she would have been able to drop one or both of them in her opening ambush, but that ship had sailed and, if nothing else, the UA students were good at setting up a defensive line.

But of course, a defensive line was only good against physical attack.

She hit another button.

* * *

Red warning lights accompanied a massive hissing noise that seemed to drown everything else out.

“Not good!”

“What is it?”

“They’ve activated the fire suppression system - it’s CO2, because of the risk of electrical fire here! We need to make an opening, immediately!”

Izuku didn’t need to be told twice, immediately opening the doorway right behind them. The security shutter gave way, putty in his hands as his Ability twisted it into something it was not. The rest of the security shutters were closed as well - they’d never outpace the extinguishers by going through every door one at a time. They needed air,  _ now _ .

He threw his Ability into the task with only one concern - open the tower, by any means possible.

* * *

Yumemi stared at the readings in disbelief. Temperature feeds rapidly flipping between highs and lows, warnings of power outages coming in at the same exact time as warnings of power overloads in the exact same units, entire suites of sensors and wiring vanishing into thin air, entire suites of sensors and wirings  _ appearing _ .

Flicking her gaze over to the cameras for visual confirmation, Midoriya had apparently used his power to tear a massive gash in the side of the building. Judging by his companions’ looks, this was an unexpected development, but not nearly as apocalyptic to them as the sensor readings had been telling her it should have been.

A snort, then a chuckle escaped her before giving way to full-blown laughter.

“Oh,  _ vindication _ !” She laughed aloud. “Midoriya, what I wouldn’t give to experiment on that so-called ‘Quirk’ of yours in a laboratory setting and see what  _ really _ makes it tick.”

How unfortunate for Midoriya that whatever he had just done had taken a lot out of him.

She pressed the advantage.

* * *

Uraraka gaped at the massive opening Izuku had given them. In what had seemed like an instant, at least forty feet worth of tower between them and fresh air had vanished without a trace, including what looked to be a sizable slice in both directions up and down the tower. Zero Gravity could probably get them up another five floors, easily.

Izuku swayed slightly on his feet.

“Midoriya, are you okay?” Iida asked. “That was an absolutely massive use of you-”

A cable, shot from behind, wrapped around one of his ankles and ripped it out from under him.

“Damn it!” Kaminari shouted. “Don’t these guys know when they’re outgunned?”

“They just want to… slow you down,” Izuku panted. “Go - I can handle them.”

“No way, man, I’m staying behind to cover you.”

“If Kaminari’s staying, I’m staying,” Jirou said. “Somebody needs to keep an eye on the idiot. From what Melissa was saying earlier, this has to be most of the drones in the building - we keep them occupied here, that keeps them off Uraraka and Melissa while they shut them all down.”

“I’m not leaving you behind!” Uraraka objected.

The idea had crossed her mind, but for moving the whole group between floors, not abandoning the others.

“You have to,” Izuku insisted. “If we take too long, the Villains get what they’re after here and we lose.”

* * *

“How valiant,” Yumemi chuckled. It was true that she had taken basically all the drones in the upper floors for her ambush, but it had succeeded beyond her wildest dreams - the entire group was cornered.

As Uraraka and Melissa took flight, leaping without the chains of gravity to hold them down, she sent the command for the reserve group to fire their binding cables at Uraraka. Uraraka responded by snapping the cables with - Yumemi checked the camera feeds again - her sharp, clawlike fingernails. Fine. One or two people can get away. She had bigger fish to fry.

Unnoticed, an intruder alert popped up in the corner of her screen as someone opened one of the stairwells leading out of the laboratory by force.

* * *

Uraraka and Melissa landed what turned out to be ten floors up, very near the top of the tower, immediately making their way for the security doors. As it turned out, in a supreme show of overconfidence, the Villains had opened the last stretch of doors to allow themselves free movement between the uppermost floors. Uraraka quickly made it clear what a poor decision that was.

* * *

“You’ve got trouble, Wolfram,” Strawberry warned, a sense of urgency to the hacker’s tone.

“Out with it.”

“Your goons in the computer room didn’t do their job - Shield’s daughter got in and locked me out of the system. She won’t be able to restart the security system quickly enough for it to be an issue, but a total shutdown is possible, and that means the Heroes you took hostage are goi-”

He tore the earpiece out and threw it to the ground. His ‘employer’ better be on schedule.

* * *

I-Island’s Central Tower was home to a massive cylindrical vault room at its highest floor, the walls of the cylinder lined with hundreds of secure vault boxes. The bottom of the room was home to a terminal that allowed access to the boxes. Relief washed over David Shield as he saw he was still authorized to get into the vault his prize was in.

“I’ve unlocked it,” he told Sam. “Block 11-47.”

“Right,” the portly scientist replied, rushing over to retrieve the suitcase from the vault.

He flipped it open to check its contents. “Everything is here,” Sam reported. “It’s perfect! And the villains seem to be holding the place down, just like we planned.”

“Thank you,” David smiled, running up to take the briefcase. “I couldn’t have done any of this without your help, Sam.”

“Papa,” Melissa asked, heartbreak clear on her face. Both Sam and David froze up as she entered the room. “What does he mean by ‘just like you planned’?”

“Melissa, I-”

“You hired villains to infiltrate the Expo, just to steal something? It can’t be true!”

David’s expression hardened. “Yes. It is.”

“How could you!?”

“The Professor was only trying to get back what was stolen from him,” Sam defended. “The device inside this briefcase can amplify someone’s quirk without causing any damage to their body or brain.”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Melissa pleaded. “The Papa I know wouldn’t act like a villain no matter what - so why?  _ Why? _ ”

“I had to - for All Might,” David confessed. “You may not realize it, but his Quirk is disappearing.”

Melissa and Uraraka were speechless. All Might, 

“If he uses this device, he’ll be back to his old self - no, his abilities would be even stronger than they were! The Number One Hero, the Symbol of Peace, would be able to go on saving people like he always has!”

He snatched the briefcase from Sam, holding to it desperately. “Please, just let me hand this device over to All Might, there’s no time to remake it! I don’t care what kind of punishment I’ll receive, as long as he gets better!”

“They risked their lives,” Melissa said firmly, trembling with emotions. “Everyone went through so much - do you know how dangerous this was!?”

“Dangerous…?” David asked, confusion dawning on his face. He looked desperately to Sam for confirmation. “The Villains are fake - it’s all supposed to be an act.”

“Of course it was a performance,” Wolfram said, strolling into the room. “We had to act like we weren’t actually criminals.”

“ _ You’re _ the one behind this!” Uraraka growled, rushing towards the villain. Metal bars tore themselves from the walkway on the upper section of the vault and flew in to intercept her, wrapping around her and pinning her to the wall on the far end of the room.

“If you’re smart, you won’t resist,” he advised. “Sam, hand it over.”

The portly scientist snatched the briefcase from David’s hands, rushing over to deliver it to Wolfram. “Right, here you go.”

“Sam?” David asked, betrayal and disbelief clear in his voice. “You were going to hand it over to them the whole time?”

Sam had, of course, been the one to arrange contact with the Villains.

“You’re the one who tricked  _ me _ , Professor,” he spat. “I’ve been your assistant for how many years, and you just let them take your work. We could have had fame and fortune, but no! I deserve more - I need to be rewarded. Otherwise, my entire career was a complete waste of time.”

“Yes, and I believe you’ll find my payment more than sufficient,” Wolfram replied as he took the briefcase.

“It’s the sum we agreed on, right?” Sam asked.

The ferrokinetic villain responded by shooting the scientist in the shoulder.

“Why? This wasn’t part of the plan!”

“Was it not? That’s strange - it was always part of  _ mine _ .”

He aimed at Sam’s head.

Hurtling into the room like a red comet, Kirishima slammed into Wolfram from behind, knocking the villain to his knees and the gun from his grasp.

“Do you realize,” he panted, “How  _ hard _ it was to jump up nearly a hundred floors worth of elevator shaft?”

Growling, Wolfram threw his hand out, tendrils of steel sweeping out to knock Kirishima away from him as he got back to his feet. Uraraka tore her way out of her bindings at that moment, claws digging into the floor as she leapt to a wall to dodge around the obstructions. Cash spilled out from the boxes beneath her - apparently some of them were used for personal storage.

As she leapt in and forced Wolfram to pay attention to her, Kirishima leapt forward, shattering some of the villain’s steel spires and sending shrapnel crashing into the security boxes. Whipping metal tendrils shot from the floor, slamming the hero students aside long enough for the villain to grab Professor Shield by the wrist.

“You’re coming with me,” he growled. Then, with another gesture, he tore the support beams from the vault’s walkway, dropping it onto Uraraka and Kirishima as he retreated towards the stairway to the building’s roof.

The pair extricated themselves in short order, Uraraka wincing as the metal dug into her skin uncomfortably - though without actually cutting her, something she likely had her youkai nature to thank for.

They gave chase.

* * *

Yaoyorozu walked into the ruined vault room, smiling to herself in satisfaction as she looked around at the devastation. Smashed security boxes, twisting spires of metal, distinct claw marks on the walls - that would be… that Kirishima kid, whoever the would-be ‘Villain’ was, and Uraraka. Money littered the floor, mostly US currency but a decent number of Yen notes as well. She knelt down to grab a large wad.

“Yaoyorozu, what are you doing?”

Uraraka was at the vault room door. Of course she was. Her senses were far more acute after her transformation, she’d probably smelled Momo coming before she even finished making it up the stairs.

Sighing, Momo froze in place, slowly and carefully materializing a set of gaudy gold rings on her fingers with Creation. “What does it look like I’m doing,  _ Ochako _ ? I’m getting rich.”

* * *

“Just kill me,” David Shield spat.

“I’ll add a few more sins to your tally first,” Wolfram responded, shoving the restrained scientist into the back of the waiting escape helicopter. “Once you’ve handed over the secrets to making more of these things, then you can die.”

It had been far more of a fiasco than expected, but he was in the clear now - and escaping with both the device  _ and _ its creator was more than enough to make up for the underlings he’d lost today.

The chopper swayed slightly as someone grabbed onto the landing skids.

“Give the Professor back,” Kirishima demanded, glaring at the villain.

“Why go to this length to save him?” Wolfram asked, casually grabbing his gun. “He’s a criminal, you know.”

“If I simply stood by and let you take him, I’d never be able to live with myself.”

Wolfram rolled his eyes. Heroes. Always the same.

One gunshot to his hands, and Kirishima’s grip loosened. A second, and he fell, plummeting back to the helipad as the villain watched, triumphant.

Barely twenty seconds later, All Might launched through the helicopter floor, piercing it like a human missile, grabbing David Shield, and leaping to safety as the vehicle exploded.

* * *

A chill went down Uraraka’s spine as Yaoyorozu replied to her with a blunt, rude admission of naked greed.

_ Youkai are prideful, _ Mokou had told her.  _ You tell them your full name and they’ll use your first name unless they really respect or fear you. _

“You’re not Yaoyorozu,” she realized.

Yaoyorozu stood up slowly, materializing something from her face as she turned to Uraraka.

“Of course I’m not,” she smirked, lowering the freshly-created pair of round sunglasses over her eyes.

If not for the training she had been undergoing, Uraraka would have been caught completely off-guard as the imposter shot forward with inhuman speed, swinging a ring-covered fist in a devastating haymaker that just barely grazed her as she tried to sidestep. She winced as searing pain blossomed along her side, baring her claws for combat.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the imposter warned, the smug smirk still adorning Yaoyorozu’s face. “You won’t cause me any lasting damage, but poor little Momo here is a different matter entirely. Have you ever seen what werewolf claws can do to human flesh?”

Yaoyorozu rushed in again, fists clenched and taking a stance that would be more expected from some yakuza thug coming to collect protection money than a hero-in-training. Reflexively, Uraraka fell back onto Gunhead Martial Arts, the intense training she had done both under the hero’s tutelage and during her spare hours making the motions second nature to her. Despite that, her opponent’s attack came fast and hard, a dirty style that used punches, elbows, and headbutts to keep up a relentless assault and left nearly no windows for a counterattack.

Nevertheless, Uraraka’s chance came soon enough - or so she thought. The moment she grabbed Yaoyorozu’s arm to go for a throw, a foot flashed forward and slammed down hard, sending searing pain blossoming through her own foot. Wincing, her guard dropped for just a moment, and a fist slammed into her stomach, sending another spike of pain through her system as it knocked the wind from her. Wheezing, she dropped to the floor.

“Like it?” Yaoyorozu taunted, beginning to slowly pace in circles around her prone opponent. “It’s Faith - though I doubt you’ve been on the receiving end of it before. Izuku has, but he’d find mine a fair bit more potent. I  _ am _ a Goddess, after all.”

Finally, memories clicked in Uraraka’s mind. “Yorigami Joon,” she gasped between breaths. “Pestilence Goddess, with the power to possess people.”

“My Ability’s technically ‘Causing consumption of financial assets,’” the thieving goddess replied, “Not that it really matters. I think the goddess down in hell says hers is ‘having three bodies,’ which is a load of bullshit if I ever heard it. But yes, among the other tricks up my sleeve to get people to waste their hard-earned cash is possessing them. After all, if they’re gonna be throwing their cash away anyways, I might as well enjoy it, right?”

“How can you stay out here?” Uraraka asked, stalling for time as she caught her breath. “I need this amulet just to avoid dying.”

“I’m a Goddess of needless spending,” Yaoyorozu laughed. “Look around you - this expo that exists to pointlessly trumpet advancements in support gear to people who it’s not really relevant to, the wealthy fools who spent money to attend one day sooner than anyone else, the pointlessly overbuilt tower we’re in right now - this world might as well be a  _ buffet _ to me.”

“I have to thank you, really - you’re the one who let me out! I could  _ smell _ the wealth of the Outside World on you, and all I had to do was hop in and wait for a richer host to come along.” She stopped circling Uraraka, looking down with a spiteful sneer. “After all, you’ve barely got any money at all. I could barely get you to pay up for a single date when it took next-to-no prompting to get the pink one to-”

Putting her supernatural strength to good use, Uraraka flung herself into Joon’s host’s stomach, leaving gashes on the floor where her claws had finally found the necessary purchase to launch her from her prone position. Snarling, the Goddess tried to grab the werewolf firmly to deliver a headbutt, but Uraraka pulled away just in time, returning to midrange and keeping her guard up for the next attack.

Materializing a handbag with Yaoyorozu’s Quirk, Joon threw it at Uraraka, who slapped it away with mild confusion.

Immediately, the Goddess was right in her face again, head lowered and right arm fully outstretched in a full force punch. Uraraka was sent flying across the room.

“Oh, I  _ like _ this body,” Joon laughed. “She’s in good shape, she’s from a respected family, she’s got everything! And she just wastes it - her Ability is creating anything she wants and she refuses to use it for personal enrichment! So much prompting from me, so many nudges just to get her to make her stupid little dolls out of gold instead of wood.  _ ‘Gold is an element, it’s faster to make them this way.’ _ ”

Growling, Uraraka launched herself off the wall in a blind rage. A pair of half-formed briefcases blocked her attack at the last second, Yaoyorozu’s face grimacing from the strain as the Goddess shifted her stance to stay upright despite the raw strength of the werewolf’s attack. As the briefcases finished, Uraraka was swept up and over her opponent’s head, twisting in midair to land on all fours a short distance away from her.

“Do you realize what your classmate has been wasting?” Joon taunted. “For once in my life,  _ I’ve got cash to burn _ .”

She flipped the briefcases open, sending hundreds of freshly-made yen notes sailing through the air. And, Uraraka realized with a start, they reeked of gasoline. Smirking, Joon produced a lighter and flicked it on.

* * *

Wolfram had been backed against the wall. Professor Shield’s device was enhancing his Quirks, but his massive iron construct was a sitting duck for Kirishima’s attacks - the kid had hunkered down, hardening up and launching massive blasts of air by punching. Each one was like an artillery strike, forcing the ferrokinetic Villain to keep his shell up just to avoid being blown out immediately. At the same time, All Might pecked away at him, leaping back and forth between tendrils and seeking out weak points in the construct. With each blow the Hero struck, the more pieces Wolfram had to muster, and the harder it became to hold it together against Kirishima’s next shot.

* * *

As Uraraka recoiled from the blast, Joon produced another handbag and threw it, once more following up with a blindingly fast-moving dashing punch. This time, though, Uraraka was ready. The moment she felt the handbag hit her, she retaliated with a headbutt, a sharp pain suffusing her skull as her head met Yaoyorozu’s. As a youkai, she recovered quickly. Joon, relying on a human host, was slower.

Uraraka went on the attack, sweeping Yaoyorozu’s legs out from under her and grabbing her wrist, forcing one arm behind the possession victim’s back and pinning her to the ground under her body weight just as Gunhead had taught her.

“Not bad,” Joon remarked with a cough. “You restrained me without causing anything worse than some bruising.

“Get out of Yaoyorozu’s body,” Uraraka demanded.

“Or what? You’ll hurt her more? You’ll kill her? You don’t have the faintest clue how to dislodge me, do you?”

“...”

“I thought as much. Let me give you a counteroffer: this girl’s parents are billionaires.  _ Billionaires. _ Do you realize how much money that is? You let me walk away right here, right now, and your parents will never have to worry about money ever again. Nobody will know.”

“Izuku will probably know how to get you out,” Uraraka supposed. “Or Miss Futatsuiwa.”

Joon’s expression soured. “Fine then. The hard way.”

Cloth billowed from Yaoyorozu’s arm, a metallic horseshoe shape underneath forcing Uraraka’s grip to release as a metal shell dislodged the werewolf from her back. Joon slipped out, clambering back to her feet. “Like I said, this girl’s Ability is perfect. Unlimited creation of nearly anything I want? You never stood-”

Blinking heavily, she swayed on her feet, stumbling backwards and only barely catching herself before she fell flat on her back.

“Yaoyorozu doesn’t have an Ability,” Uraraka replied. “It’s a Quirk.”

“And I suppose those have drawbacks,” Joon said in a weakening voice. “Even being away from Shion doesn’t help my luck, I guess.”

Yaoyorozu fell limply to the floor.

* * *

“We’re investigating how they got into the system, but it won’t affect the Expo’s public opening,” Inspector Tamuro explained. Izuku looked visibly relieved at the news the Expo would be continuing for the full three days, though he wouldn’t outwardly admit that was where his priorities had laid.

“Didn’t Papa let them in?” Melissa asked.

“His and Sam’s testimony was to that effect, yes,” the officer replied, “But I noticed some irregularities between their story and the events of last night. I suspect the Villains didn’t fully trust their ‘employers’ and brought their own man to get them into the system. We’ve identified one of their crew as the most likely culprit, a man with a cybernetic enhancement quirk.”

“Will this… will this get David a lighter sentence?” All Might asked, an undercurrent of hope to his voice.

“Unfortunately, the fact that the Villains  _ could _ have gotten into the system on their own doesn’t change the fact that he aided them in doing so. He opened the door, they gave themselves more privileges than he expected, he’s still an accomplice. He’s likely to get a relatively light sentence due to fully cooperating with the investigation, but he’ll almost certainly still be serving time. I’m sorry.”

“I see,” the hero replied grimly.

* * *

“Now  _ that _ was profitable,” Yumemi remarked, smiling as she clicked through her ill-gotten gains.

“But Professor,” Chiyuri wondered, “Why did you tell him you got locked out of the system? Nobody will work with you if you have a reputation for betrayal.”

“Working with me is one thing, buying from me is quite another,” the physicist replied. “We can make money far faster - and more safely - by just selling to black market support dealers.”

She began to sort the blueprint files into folders.

“After all, David Shield committed one crime already - when his designs pop up on the black market, everyone will just see another moral failing on his part.”

Pausing for a moment in thought, she slipped the suit blueprint UA’s Principal Nezu had sent into her own private files, a folder labeled ‘INVESTIGATION’.

No way was she letting  _ that _ get into the wild.

* * *

Looking over the ocean from an isolated pier meant for deliveries when air transport wasn’t viable, a scientist took a long drag on his cigarette before recoiling in disgust. He snatched the box from his pocket.

“Figures you got the cheapest brand,” he muttered. “This stuff’s crap, you get what you pay for.”

“Oh?” A woman’s voice replied. “I certainly hope so. I would hate to have to get my hands dirty after the lengths I’ve gone to so far.”

Rolling his eyes, he turned to face the speaker. “Your offer was too good to refuse, Yukari. Of course I’m good for it.”

The Youkai Sage stared at him.

“Yes, I wiped the computers,” he sighed. “Not a trace left on the drives, and overheated all the backup storage so that’s gone too.”

Yukari’s lips curled into a faint - but noticeable - smile. “Good. Then I daresay you’ve earned this little vacation, Miss Yorigami.”

Through her current host, Joon smiled. “One week in the Outside World to spend as I please, and all I have to do is play the heel when I see a good opportunity. You’ve got my host picked out for me, right?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll see you in a week.”

Unconscious, Joon’s freshly abandoned host toppled forwards into the ocean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yumemi's bit was fun for me to write, since it required me to think about the best tactic to handle someone who can basically just melt any robot drone you send at him. The solution I came up with was, since Izuku can't currently transform air, force him to open a hole in the tower and then manage to shove him out of it. That second part didn't end up happening.
> 
> The initial version I had for the Joon encounter had her acting a fair bit nastier, at one point snatching the Amulet from Uraraka and using that to force her to stay in close combat range. This seemed a bit too antagonistic for what I was going for.
> 
> Wolfram's fight is mostly similar to what went on in the movie, so I left it a fair bit lighter on the details. Kirishima being a less mobile but heavier-hitting version of canon Izuku makes the fight pretty dang similar, all things considered, since Wolfram spent most of it stalling Izuku and focusing on escaping with his prize.


	31. Fragrant Plants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1-A is off to the Training Camp!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11443 hits - at some point the bar graph in my Statistics page turned from having blue bars to a red color, I only just noticed that now.
> 
> The Forest of Magic stage theme in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody - a fitting choice for a chapter where 1-A fights their way through a dense forest filled with beasties. Personally, I prefer the Sanzu River's theme Dancing Water Spray over Fragrant Plants. They're extremely similar to each other.

After returning from I-Expo, they had a single day of rest before lining up bright and early to board the buses for the summer training camp. Just as with the USJ trip, they had one bus for the class, with a second one lined up for 1-B’s use.

Monoma sneered at them as they waited for their luggage to be loaded.

“You got attacked by villains at I-Expo and made the news? Just by chance?  _ Really? _ ”

Throwing his arms wide, he continued, a manic look on his face. “Does anyone else find it odd how  _ often _ 1-A here has had to fight off villain attacks? That they can’t seem to make it through a single month without some major incident involving several of their students? If you ask me, I think someone among them is-”

He was cut off as Kendou chopped him in the back of the neck, neatly knocking him unconscious and grabbing him as he fell.

“I’m sorry about Monoma and the nonsense he spews,” she sighed.

* * *

After an hour of driving, the bus finally came to a stop at a scenic vista, pulling to the side of the road at a rest area.

“Right,” Aizawa told the class, “Everyone out.”

Izuku had to admit it was a beautiful view - from their position high up the mountainside, the class could see a massive, dense forest spread far and wide below them, seemingly filling up the entire valley. It was absolutely striking, the sort of dense, untamed wilderness that the modern world made it all too easy to forget existed.

“Wait, what kind of rest stop is this?” Kaminari asked. It was a good question - the pulloff was on unpaved dirt, the cliff guarded only by a relatively flimsy-looking wooden fence. It looked disturbingly new, like it had only been built the other day for an express purpose.

“We’ve stopped here for a reason, obviously,” Eraserhead replied.

Before anyone could ask what that reason was, another voice called out, “Heya, Eraser! You got here earlier than expected!”

He shrugged. “Traffic was light.”

Stepping out from whatever cover they had been hiding behind, the two newcomers - Pro Heroes, as expected of UA - made a big show out of announcing their arrival to the students.

“Rock on with these sparkling gazes!”

Izuku imagined they had hoped for a bigger reaction out of 1-A.

“Stingingly cute and catlike!”

“We’re the Wild, Wild Pussycats!”

Of the two women, one of them had dark hair, cut short and styled into three bangs. The other, slightly shorter, had longer blonde hair, mostly swept back save for a single fringe that draped over her face. Both of them wore matching uniforms - a sleeveless top with a bell and skirt, large white cat paw gloves, heeled boots lined with white fur, and a communicator headset with two large antennae protruding from the top, styled to resemble a cat’s ears. The blonde’s outfit was a light blue in color, while her teammate had opted for red.

Behind them loomed a sullen-looking child, glaring at the class from below the brim of a red hat adorned with two golden spikes.

After a long moment of utter silence from the class, Aizawa sighed. “These are the Pro Heroes who’ll be helping us out this week - the Pussycats.”

Izuku took that as his cue to geek out, immediately launching into a mumbling spree.

“They’re a four-member team who specialize in mountain rescues! They’re veritable veterans of the Heroics industry, having been operating for twelve years now, and-”

“We’re 18 at heart!” The blonde - Pixie-Bob, Izuku recalled - interrupted him, shoving one massive fuzzy paw glove into his face.

Ignoring the blonde’s antics, the other Pussycat - Mandalay, if memory served - launched into an explanation for the class.

“This whole area is our territory - you’ll be spending the duration of the training camp here,” she said, gesturing to the scenery before them. “Your lodging is at the foot of that mountain right there.”

This declaration sent a stir through the class.

“That’s on the opposite side of the valley!”

“Wait, then why’d we stop so soon?”

“You don’t think…”

“It’s currently around nine o’clock,” she continued. “I’m thinking… noon, at the earliest.”

“Ohhh no. No, no, no…”

“ _ Everyone back to the bus! _ ” Someone shrieked.

“We won’t save you any lunch if you don’t make it by 12:30,” Mandalay smirked.

Aizawa dispassionately watched the small group of students making a break for the bus. “Sorry, kids. The training’s already begun.”

Pixie-Bob slammed her hands to the ground, putting her Quirk to use. Earth Flow - a power that allowed her total command of the soil in the area, allowing her to stabilize and reshape areas for mountain rescue. The earth swept up and around the bus, intercepting the fleeing students before catching the rest of the class and tossing them into the valley below. Even Izuku was caught in the surprise attack, as keeping the defensive aspect of his Ability active all the time had a tendency to cause tremendous collateral damage.

“This is our private property, so you’re free to use your quirks!” Mandalay called down after the falling students. “You’ve got three hours to navigate the forest and make it to our base on foot!”

Reiko just floated there with a slightly bored expression, hanging in space right at eye level where she had managed to get free of Pixie-Bob’s attack. “That mountain over there, right?”

Eraserhead glared at her, deactivating her quirk’s telekinesis and sending the magician plummeting into the valley with the rest of her class.

“You sure she’ll be fine?”

“You didn’t show any concern for my students when you threw them off a cliff,” he replied. “She’s more than capable of saving herself from a fall like that. You should be worrying about how you’re going to keep her from trying that trick again later, when I won’t be able to stop her.”

* * *

“Do you ever think that UA’s curriculum is a bit too eccentric?” Ashido asked, spitting some stray dirt onto the ground.

“No point in complaining about it,” Jirou supposed. “We should get moving.”

Just as she said that, a behemoth of a monster padded out of the forest, coated with thick, craggy armor plating that had what appeared to be tree roots jutting from it. Kaminari and Sero promptly panicked.

“A MONSTER!?”

“Please, creature, calm yourself and withdraw!”

Surprisingly, Koda of all people was the first to react in a helpful manner, immediately calling out to the beast. It was to no avail, however. Strangely silent in the face of the rocky boy’s quirk, the creature continued to advance. Izuku was sure of it: this creature was one of Pixie-Bob’s creations, an animated construct of earth rather than a living creature that Koda could negotiate with.

Leaping into action, he cloaked himself in his Ability, taking full advantage of the overwhelming advantage it gave him when fighting any foe who relied on a single material. A knife-hand strike cleanly severed the creature’s forelimbs, packed dirt and rock turning to flowing water as it crashed to the ground. Izuku turned to the next beast, tearing through it with equal efficiency. From her distant vantage point, Pixie-Bob tried to reform the creatures, to salvage the remaining usable dirt in their bodies into a single construct, but Izuku dispatched it before it could fully form. He turned to the other students who had landed near him.

“We should get moving.”

* * *

“Roll call! Everyone all safe and accounted for!?” Iida shouted, quickly taking charge of the situation after the entire class had been dumped into a hostile environment.

“Bakugou, Uraraka, and Yanagi all managed to free themselves from the landslide before we even hit the ground,” Ojiro reported. “I saw them using their quirks to launch themselves clear. Aside from that, Midoriya and several others appear to have been separated from us, but are together.”

“I see. We should make joining back up with Midoriya our first priority. After that, locating Uraraka is the next most reasonable goal, but we should focus on reaching the training camp above everything else.”

“Not Bakugou and Yanagi?”

“Neither of them work particularly well with others,” Iida replied. “Yanagi will reach the lodge well before any of us if nobody can stop her from flying, and isn’t the type to wait and regroup.”

“We should try to find Bakugou,” Kirisihima objected. “Midoriya’s Quirk is basically perfect for this - he can transform anything Pixie-Bob sends at him into materials she can’t use. We don’t need to worry about him or anyone who’s with him.”

“...You raise a fair point,” Iida conceded. “Very well - everyone in favor of Kirishima’s plan?”

A scattering of hands raised among the students - a clear, if not overwhelming, plurality.

“Explosions are that way,” Shoji reported, pointing off to the left.

* * *

Suppressing a shiver, Reiko lazily weaved through the trees, magic circles firing off bullets and lasers alike to tear through the constructs without issue. While the ‘threat’ that Pixie-Bob’s Earth Beasts posed was negligible, she’d be lying to herself if she said that being hunted by bestial quadrupeds in a dense forest away from human civilization didn’t bring back bad memories.

As another of the Pussycat’s monsters appeared from the dense brush, Reiko forced herself to switch to a lower-power spell. UA would probably frown on accidentally causing a forest fire.

A lancing beam of energy tore through the Earth Beast with no issue, leaving it to crumble with a massive hole through its torso as the beast lost too much mass to maintain cohesion.

* * *

A wide smile was practically plastered to Uraraka’s face as she tore through each creature sent at her, savaging them one at a time before moving on to the next member of the horde in a vicious blitz. She hoped the hero was pulling her punches - this was almost  _ too _ easy.

Several of the earthen constructs shuddered and hauled themselves back up, leaving her surrounded. Good.

Grabbing the nearest Earth Beast by its forelimb, she wrapped one clawed hand firmly around it, making sure to press her fingers firmly into the packed dirt that made up its body before flinging the weightless creature skywards at an angle. Then, baring her fangs, she tore into the next creature.

* * *

“What sort of monsters do you have in your class this year, Eraser?”

The ragged-looking underground hero shrugged.

“I was worried when you told me I should throw the second-year survival course at them, but They’re doing better than I had expected.”

“The main one you’ll have to look out for is Midoriya,” he advised.

“Oh? Not the flier?”

“Trying to keep Yanagi from having too easy a time is one thing, but Midoriya is the sort who’ll help others. If it comes down to it, I’d rather one student have an easy time than five of them.”

Pixie-Bob smirked. “Strict as ever, huh?”

“Every hardship they go through now is one less problem they’ll have on the field. It’s irrational to take it easy on them when they’re going into a career where death is a very real possibility.”

* * *

“DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!”

Roaring, Bakugou let another explosion loose, tearing the Earth Beast apart with raw concussive force. His hand gave a slight tweak of protest.

“Damn bitch…” he growled. “Going to try to wear me down through attrition, huh?”

Whipping his hand out, another blast demolished his latest attacker, reducing it to a scattering of roots and loose clumps of dirt on the ground, joining the growing mass of debris that littered the battlefield.

“You’ll run out of willpower before I run out of sweat!” He screamed, at nobody in particular.

At least, he assumed her quirk used her willpower, since her creatures didn’t seem to need to maintain contact with the ground.

A massive form came hurtling out of the sky, slamming into - and through - several trees before finally coming to a halt. Shamefully, he flinched - if it had been a few feet to the left, it would have directly struck him.

Silently, the Earth Beast hauled itself to its feet. It had clearly seen battle - a massive gash marred its face and upper torso, and on closer inspection it seemed to have been cobbled together from a mishmash of other, smaller constructs to fight a foe that needed the extra muscle.

Figures. Damn extras couldn’t keep their fights to themselves.

Letting loose a crackle of explosions, he charged in against his newest opponent.

* * *

Pixie-Bob frowned at the readouts on her visor as they sped through the backroads the Pussycats used for easy access to their lodge.

“Eraser, I’m going to need you to take lookout the moment we get there,” she urged.

“Yanagi slip the leash again?”

“She doesn’t have to fight to make it through, and she knows it. I’m only able to track her since she seems to be taking the occasional potshot at my constructs, but she’s progressing way faster than I expected. We might actually have to cook lunch for her if we can’t pin her down soon.”

“And the others?”

“One of the two loners has apparently met up with the main group, while Midoriya’s continuing to make steady progress. The other one is still going strong on their own - I’m assuming they’re not Bakugou, since they show no signs of slowing down no matter how much I’ve thrown at them.”

Mandalay pulled the car into the lodge’s main driveway, a cutesy sign proclaiming its official name to be the ‘Catnip Inn’. Before the vehicle had even come to a complete stop, Aizawa had flung open his door and leapt into action, grappling to the top of the lodge and casting a searching eye over the skyline. He needed to keep his eye on a target for a small amount of time before Erasure took effect, he couldn’t just sweep his eyes over the whole horizon and get Yanagi, not at the distances he was working with.

There - a small speck, maybe a few miles out. He focused on it for a moment, and it dropped into the trees below.

* * *

“Ragdoll, what’s she up to?” Pixie-Bob asked. Despite their best efforts, Reiko had managed to arrive at the lodge just before lunch, and had, after eating, promptly retreated to the girls’ room to work on something.

“Same thing she was an hour ago,” the Pussycats’ green-clad observation specialist replied. “Drawing something on a ton of paper she brought with her.”

She didn’t know what Yanagi was up to, exactly, but as long as she wasn’t tearing the lodge apart, it wasn’t anything to be worried about. Nezu had already mentioned the girl’s superstitious streak to them.

_ “It’s a psychological thing,” _ he had explained.  _ “Makes her feel better to have them, like how she uses her quirk to make ‘magic circles’ when she’s telekinetically manipulating photons to create lasers and projectiles.” _

Really, if anything, she should thank the girl for her thoughtfulness - she had been worried they’d need to clean ink stains out of the flooring once the week was up. A rustling from the bushes grabbed her attention, breaking her from her train of thought.

At last, the beaten members of 1-A began to emerge from the treeline. To her slight annoyance, Midoriya was practically spotless and barely looked winded. Eraserhead  _ had _ warned her, but it was hard to do anything to someone whose power countered yours as hard as he did. Even dropping him into a pitfall had ultimately done little, as he had begun to swim through the earth and make even faster progress than he had previously. The best she had been able to do to slow him down was throwing more and more Earth Beasts at his group, forcing him to slow down to protect the others. It was a bad feeling, trying to fight someone by picking on their weaker companions - made her feel villainous. She needed a good soak after this.

“‘Only take three hours’ my foot,” Sero grumbled.

“Sorry,” Mandalay casually responded, a teasing smile on her face. “That’s how fast  _ we _ would have made it.”

“We actually thought it’d take you guys longer,” Pixie-Bob chuckled, ignoring the one student who had arrived well ahead of the rest of the class. “Not to mention, you guys dealt with my Earth Beasts pretty well. Especially considering you didn’t fully reunite until the end.”

“Sensei, we’re still missing Yanagi,” Iida cut in, a worried look on his face.

She heaved a deep sigh. “She flew over the forest and got here hours ago.”

“Oh, right, quirks that give true flight are pretty rare,” Izuku realized, “You don’t really have a good tactic to deal with that as long as she keeps an eye out for anything you throw at her with Earth Flow.”

“We usually send classes to a different training camp when flight quirks are involved, but the second years are attending that one, and we have a policy of not mixing years for these things.” The roll of his eyes that accompanied that last detail made it very clear what Aizawa’s personal opinion of that policy was.

“By the way, I was wondering earlier, but didn’t get the opportunity to ask - that boy who’s with you, is he your kid?”

“He’s actually my nephew,” Mandalay explained, waving the child over. “Kota, come over and say hello! You’ll be spending a week with these guys, after all...”

Kota grumpily stomped over to the class.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you! I’m Midoriya, from UA High’s Hero cou-”

Clenching a fist, Kota reared back and punched him in the crotch with all the force his five year old body could muster. Almost immediately, he recoiled, wincing. Already leaping to his classmate’s aid, Iida did a double-take when he realized Izuku had barely reacted to the attack.

“Wh- are you wearing a cup?”

“Kota, why did you just try to punch Midoriya in the junk!?” Mandalay demanded.

Clutching his hand in pain, Kota ground out through grit teeth. “I can’t abide jerks who’d willingly try to become heroes.”

“Cute kid,” Bakugou snorted.

“Would carry more weight if he had actually done anything to iron-junk Midoriya, though,” Hagakure added.

“While you’re certainly welcome to keep standing around, I’d advise that you get started unpacking,” Aizawa warned. “This is your rest day. The real training starts tomorrow.”

* * *

Aizawa lined his class up bright and early at 5:30 AM the next day, some seeming far more aware than others. In particular, Asui, Kaminari, and Jirou all seemed unused to early mornings, while Tokoyami, Bakugou, and Todoroki were all apparently early risers. Izuku and Uraraka, for their part, were fully awake and ready. Reiko, on the other hand, had apparently pulled an all-nighter and looked like hell.

“Today, the real training camp begins,” he began. “Ideally, you will all emerge from this as stronger people, strong enough to obtain your provisional licenses. This is, admittedly, unusually early in the curriculum, but it’s necessary - there is a growing hostile force out there, waiting to strike.”

For Izuku, Uraraka, and Reiko, the statement carried an extra edge to it - with Elis proving elusive, the League of Villains’ inevitable next attack would be their best, and possibly only, chance to stop the demon before she could release her master.

“We’ll give you every resource you need to be prepared to face it, so stay sharp and work hard. To start with… Bakugou, take this.”

He tossed a ball to Bakugou.

“This is the same thing as during the strength trials,” the blond observed.

“Right after school started, your record was 705.2 meters. Show me how much you’ve grown since then.”

Muted cheers rippled through the class from those Bakugou was more friendly with as they realized where this was going.

“Oh, he’s testing to see if we’ve improved!”

“We’ve gone through a lot these past months! I bet he’ll be able to launch it a full kilometer!”

“Kill that sucker, Bakugou!”

Winding up, he launched the ball with an explosion and the expected cry of “GO TO HELL!”

After a moment, Aizawa held up the measurement device.  709.6m .

“What? That has to be wrong, it’s barely farther than it was before.”

“You’re right that you’ve been through a lot these past months,” their teacher explained. “Undoubtedly, you’ve all grown in many ways. But it’s only your techniques and minds that have improved - your quirks haven’t kept the same pace. So, starting today, you’ll be working on improving your quirks.”

He gained a sadistic grin. “Quirks have a very real backlash, of course, and you’ll be pushing them to their limits. It’ll be so harsh you’ll wish you were dead, so please - try to stay alive.”

* * *

Again, Izuku found himself at a dead end. What he had done on I-Island was impressive, absolutely, but it was another enigma to him. A massive amount of steel, a solid quarter of nearly ten entire floors of the tower, vanished in an instant by his Ability to Transform Objects in an action that had nearly laid him out from overexertion - it was simple. It  _ should _ have been simple. Transform the structure to air, or something else that simply wasn’t there.

But that was the problem, he reflected, as he looked at the lack of a product of his handiwork. Another huge mass of stone, gone in an instant. His Ability was getting stronger, that much was clear. That feat would have been impossible for him a few months ago. But now…

“You’re not sure you’re doing it right,” Pixie-Bob told him, seemingly reading his mind. “It’s clear from your face - you’re expecting to feel something that you’re not feeling, whether it’s a backlash or just a reflex. And it’s bugging you that you’re not feeling it.”

“That obvious, huh?”

“I had this visor made specifically to help me control my Earth Beasts,” she said, gesturing to her equipment. “I can feel the earth bend when I use Earth Flow, and I have an instinctual idea of where it is, like how you just know where your hand is in relation to your body without needing to look. But they throw it off - they’re not an extension of the ground, so I can feel myself manipulating them, but without knowing where they are. I needed a way to track them, to keep their position in my mind.”

“But  _ you _ ,” she continued, “are the opposite. I need to track the Earth Beasts because they stick around. The lack of feedback for what should be a one-and-done vanishing trick is bugging you. So, what’re you trying to feel?”

“I…” he tried to think of a way to explain it without admitting that he vanished a massive chunk of a research building in what was technically a massive display of unlicensed quirk usage erroneously attributed to a rogue ferrokinetic villain hopped up on a quirk enhancer.

“I made a huge mass vanish, recently. And the effort of doing so pretty much wiped me out - it felt nothing like this.”

“Hm… your quirk transforms things, right? What did you turn that object into, and what are you turning these rocks I’m giving you into?”

“It would’ve probably been air, so…”

“No, no, not ‘probably’, what  _ did _ you turn it into, or what were you  _ trying _ to turn it into if you really don’t know?”

He thought for a moment. And came up blank. He hadn’t been thinking of what to turn the metal into, or any of his normal considerations he took into account when using his Ability. He had used his Ability with only one goal: remove the obstacle by any means necessary.

“Now that’s a look,” Pixie-Bob chuckled. “Ready to try again?”

He nodded. Another mass of stone and compressed earth rose from the ground.

_ Okay, _ he told himself, focusing solely on the boulder.  _ Obstacle gone, doesn’t matter how. _

Letting his Ability flare up, he directed its full force towards the target Pixie-Bob had provided and-

“Did it work?” the Pussycat asked. “Looked the same to me.”

He could barely hear her. A massive wave of dizziness swept over him as he toppled backwards to the soil, vision dimming as he watched her trying to wave down some help.

* * *

Elis grinned at the valley below her, bathed in the pale light of the full moon. Shigaraki had agreed with her request to be positioned separately from the rest of the vanguard squad, both out of his own respect for the psychotic demon as a leader, as well as from Kurogiri’s reminder that, without the physical presence of the League’s leader or his de-facto second in command, there was effectively nothing stopping her from tearing Compress’s throat out the moment the villain did anything to provoke her ire.

“You can feel it, can’t you, YuugenMagan? A sensation - an energy to the air.”

The enormous brass orb she held, painstakingly put back together and left to stew in its own hatred for months, practically tore itself from her grip to rejoin the other four orbs that lay on the cliff beside her.

“He’s here. Your vengeance is at hand.”

In unison, all five eyes snapped open, taking a floating pentagram formation, lightning arcing from them to a central point and forming the unmistakable silhouette of a woman in a simple burial kimono, long hair draping over her face. An Onryo, and yet not.

“Well? Go get him.”

Dark storm clouds gathered in the sky as the Onryo-turned-Demon tilted her head back and roared to the sky, a bestial sound of pure hatred and resentment. Lightning split the sky, and with a deafening crack, the earth itself split apart as a truly monstrous earthquake wracked the valley below.

Dropping into the forest below, YuugenMagan began her hunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Earth Flow and Pixie-Bob's Earth Beasts are extremely interesting to me. She doesn't seem to need to maintain contact with what she's manipulating like Cementoss, based on the fact that she's able to travel to the lodge with Mandalay and Eraserhead while still seemingly keeping up a series of attacks on the students with her Earth Beasts, but she does need contact to kick off the landslide (unless she's doing it for either easier control or style, both of which are admittedly possible). Then the Earth Beasts themselves seem to need no contact or anything to keep going once she's made them, but she does apparently need her visor to keep track of them.


	32. Unknown X ~ Unfound Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1-A has to face their most dangerous foe yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, it's a chapter.
> 
> Chapter title is the final boss theme from Hisoutensoku, used for three different foes based on whose story route you're playing.

A massive crash tore Tokoyami from his slumber. Bolting upright, he looked around frantically, searching for the source of the noise. From his watch, it was still only 3 AM. Everyone else was still asleep.

“There was an earthquake, just now,” Dark Shadow explained. “One of the trees outside fell over.”

The low rumble of an aftershock vibrated the room.

“Was it bad?”

“Eh.” The quirk shrugged. “The Pussycats specialize in mountain rescue, I’m sure this lodge is built sturdy enough to handle it. Pixie-Bob’s got her quirk, too.”

Yawning, the bird-headed boy lay back down, pulling his sheet up over himself. “You’re right. I’m heading back to bed, now.”

“Good night, Fumi.”

“Goo-”

More crashes from outside, and the distant shaking of leaves. Cries rang out through the night air as birds, startled, were roused from their slumber and took to the air to flee their nests.

Something was coming.

Hurling his sheets off him, Tokoyami ran to the window, ignoring the muffled, sleepy protests of Ojiro as the martial artist was rudely woken by the cast-off beddings.

Treetops could be seen falling to either side, marking something’s implacable advance through the forest, each subsequent felling coming closer and closer to the lodge. The whole time, a low rumble could be felt, slowly increasing in intensity.

He had a feeling he knew what it was.

It wasn’t good.

Sprinting to the door, Tokoyami tore it open and practically flew down the hallway, just barely avoiding a collision with Yanagi as she literally flew out of the girl’s room at a much slower pace. Muffled, half-awake conversation drifted through the open doorway as the girls began to wake.

She began to ask him something, but he was already leaping down the stairs.

* * *

“Some kind of strength enhancement, maybe,” Pixie-Bob was saying as Tokoyami made it to the front of the lodge. “Or a mutation. They’re tearing through my Earth Beasts without even slowing down.”

“And even I wouldn’t be able to do that unless I could see you,” Eraserhead added.

“The damage they’re causing to the forest would fit with this being a more all-around damaging quirk,” Ragdoll reasoned. “If they just had something that could disrupt Earth Flow they wouldn’t be able to cause that.”

“What are you  _ doing _ !?” the bird-headed boy demanded. The older heroes whirled on him.

“Tokoyami. It’s not safe, we have this under contro-”

“You’re nowhere near ready to deal with this!” He protested, shouting over Aizawa. “It took all of Kashima’s attention to just keep this thing contained!”

“If you know what this is-”

A massive, yellowish-brown mound came crashing through the last trees at the edge of the clearing, swimming through the earth like water before taking a massive leap into the air. For a scant few moments, it hung there, silhouetted against the full moon.

An enormous catfish, roughly the size of the Pussycats’ mountain lodge. Its dorsal fin alone was nearly the size of Tokoyami, its whiskers whipped around like loose high-tension cable, and the moonlight glistened brilliantly as it was scattered by a glossy film on the skin of the gargantuan beast.

Its bulbous eyes locked onto Tokoyami, making eye contact with a clear message behind it:

_ You are nothing to me, Human. _

Then, the beast came crashing down on the ground like a piscine meteor, the force of its impact letting loose a tremendous, deafening  ** _CRACK_ ** of splitting rock. The lodge collapsed like a house of cards.

Mandalay’s eyes widened at the destruction, and she immediately turned to start giving orders. “Shit! Tiger, start getting everyone out of the rubble! Ragdoll, help direct him to the students! Pixie-Bob, try to see if you can use your quirk to flush-”

“It won’t work,” Tokoyami warned. “That was no Villain - it was the Namazu.”

“The… giant catfish that causes earthquakes?” Pixie-Bob asked hesitantly. “Like, just to clarify, the thing that’s on the earthquake early warning system?”

“The very same,” he gravely confirmed. “The worst has come to pass - Kashima has failed in his task, and the beast is now loose.”

“This is absolutely ridiculous,” Aizawa objected. “It’s pure irrationality to claim that we’re under attack by some mythical creature. Pixie-Bob, the next time the Villain surfaces, try to use your quirk to pin them down. Just because they can swim through dirt doesn’t mean the same will be true for rock.”

As if on cue, the massive beast surfaced once more, swimming towards the group with no other goal than to bring ruin. At Pixie-Bob’s command, the earth rose to meet it, sweeping up in a veritable tsunami of rock and soil.

“NO!”

The moment the tide crashed upon it, the Namazu gave a single thrash of its monstrous body, flopping like a fish on a dock. A massive shockwave, as destructive as the first, rippled through the ground, toppling trees and further jumbling the scattered mess of debris that had once been the lodge.

“Its thrashing causes earthquakes, you can’t fight it with geokinesis!”

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity of digging, Tiger finally managed to free some students from the rubble - Shiozaki, Bakugou, Todoroki, and Uraraka. At the same time, Midoriya had used his quirk to clear the rubble around him, rescuing most of the remaining 1-A boys, while a floating scattering of debris marked Yanagi’s efforts to extricate herself.

“What the fuck was that, huh?” the blond shouted, eloquent as always.

“This will sound incredibly outlandish, but an ancient evil has broken free,” Tokoyami replied. “The god Kashima has failed in his task, an-”

“Get to the point already.”

“...we’re fighting a giant catfish that causes earthquakes,” he finished, more than a hint of annoyance in his tone.

“Where is it now?” Midoriya asked.

As if on cue, the Namazu resurfaced at the edge of the clearing, dripping with dirt. The Pros had it circled within moments of its reappearance.

“ **I have no quarrel with any of you,** ” it said, its voice a low, rough sound like the earthquakes it wielded. “ **Save one.** ”

Aizawa didn’t drop his guard as he stared the behemoth down. “And that would be?”

“ **The boy,** ” it rumbled. “ **The Hunter’s descendant.** ”

A shiver ran down Tokoyami’s spine as he realized the beast meant  _ him _ . He had drawn it here, knowingly or not, and put everyone in danger.

In a flash, Aizawa’s capture weapon had wrapped itself around the monster, neatly sliding in under its raised tail in an effort to restrain it - an effort that Tokoyami knew was futile.

“ **So that’s your answer. Amusing, but ultimately a meaningless gesture.** ”

For a moment, he could swear the catfish’s mouth formed something akin to a grin. With one mighty thrash, it sent ripples of liquified earth through the clearing as the motion launched Aizawa over its back and into the trees. Tokoyami winced at the sound of flesh meeting unyielding wood.

“ **I’ve wrestled ** ** _GODS_ ** **, worthless Human! You are no Kashima!** ”

The Pussycats jumped into action.

* * *

“I just want to say,” Yanagi started, “I was wrong.”

“Not the time, wannabe ghost,” Bakugou growled.

Completely ignoring him, she continued. “I never found any proof of the supernatural despite my best efforts, so I dismissed it all as stories.”

“If they weren’t good at hiding, they wouldn’t be considered myths,” Tokoyami simply replied, as though that argument made any amount of sense. “Regardless, they’re real, and we need to fight that thing. We can’t let it go - even if it wasn’t trying to kill us, it’s a mobile earthquake. If it gets to a population center, the damage will be unthinkable.”

“We need to stop it from thrashing about,” Midoriya proposed. “Every time it’s moved, it’s been accompanied by a shockwave or earthquake. If we can immobilize it, we neutralize the threat.”

A good plan, but no. “Kashima-no-kami spent every day wrestling the Namazu, and even then it was able to occasionally slip free and thrash about. If a god couldn’t restrain it, what hope do we have?”

“Then we’re doomed then?” Uraraka asked. “If we can’t restrain it, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Not quite,” Tokoyami replied. “There is one way to render it powerless we have right here, but it’ll be difficult to pull off...”

* * *

The Pussycats didn’t stand a chance against the mythical monstrosity - neither Mandalay nor Ragdoll had the sort of physical capabilities to fight the beast, Tiger’s Pliabody was barely any better, and Pixie-Bob, wielder of what was by far the strongest combat quirk on the team, was effectively throwing fuel on the fire with everything she tried to do.

“ **FOOLISH WORMS! I AM DISASTER! I AM RUIN! YOU CAN DO ** ** _NOTHING_ ** ** TO ME!** ”

It was a testament to their skill as a team that they had been able to fight against the earthshaking monster for as long as they had, but it was clearly toying with them, staying at the surface and not bringing its full destructive power to bear. Ragdoll had relayed the beast’s weaknesses to Mandalay as the fighting began, and they did their best to attack in unison, launching coordinated hit-and-run strikes on its eyes and gills, where its skin was thinner. Pixie-Bob’s claws had been shattered early in the fight when she had been slightly off-target.

But coordination and tactics could only last so long against something that was more a force of nature than a living creature, something that had wrestled with a god for longer than any of its opponents had been alive. Ragdoll was just a bit too slow to withdraw after a failed attempt to strike the beast’s eye, and one of its whiskers deftly wrapped around her leg, whipping her into the air before slamming her to the ground. Tiger, rushing in in an attempt to save his teammate, was intercepted by her unconscious body, tossed aside by the catfish with utter disinterest.

“ **I tire of this.** ”

Mandalay was powerless to stop the beast as it slid into the dirt, its dorsal fin the only sign of its passage as it swam straight for Tokoyami.

“Here it comes…” he warned.

Barely three feet away, it surfaced with a leap, maw gaping wide to swallow the bird-headed boy. Dark Shadow sprang forth immediately, grunting with effort as it pushed against the catfish’s powerful jaws to try to keep his master intact. But then, this was according to plan.

“Todoroki, stop hesitating!”

“But-”

“DO IT!”

A wave of ice rushed out, encasing the beast in a small glacier Shivering, Tokoyami shrugged off his cloak, stiff with ice, to slip through the monster’s jaws and escape. Todoroki layered more ice on once he was clear, until the Namazu was nothing more than a shadow.

Then, the shadow twitched and the ice cracked and shattered.

“ **FOOLS!** ”

“Shit,” Midoriya remembered, too late to point out the flaw in the plan. “Glacial earthquakes are a thing.”

“They’re not caused by plate tectonics, moron,” Bakugou objected.

“ **All Earthquakes are caused by me, impudent mortal,** ” The Namazu replied, slipping into the earth once more. The group immediately took up a defensive position, circling to make sure there was no blind spot the catfish could sneak up on them from.

For a few tense moments, all was still. And then Tokoyami realized their mistake.

One, the beast was focused on him.

Two, it could swim through the ground.

Just barely in time, he dove to the side, clumsily knocking into Midoriya and toppling both of them to the ground in a clumsy heap. His reason for doing so was made abundantly clear as the ancient youkai launched itself from the ground directly below where he had been standing, jaws snapping shut on nothing but air. Even the slightest bit slower and he would have been fish chow.

Seizing the opening, Shiozaki stepped up to the plate, tossing her vines out in a great thorny net to stop the Namazu from diving back into the earth. She let out a cry of pain as her hair was nearly torn from her scalp, but held fast, gritting her teeth with a look of pure determination on her face as the foliage twisted and grew, seeking to entangle the beast, holding it aloft so it could no longer thrash about on the ground.

“Oh, vile demon,” she cried, “Relinquish your hatred and fade from this world! Still your tumultuous wrath!”

“ **You have not yet ** ** _seen_ ** ** my wrath, child!** ”

A great undulation within the mass of vines, and a sound like a thunderclap rang out as the beast managed to free its whiskers. Somehow, impossibly, Tokoyami watched electricity dance along the appendages.

“ **You humans never learned of my full power,** ” it smugly taunted.

“ **Catfish: All-Electrical For Ecology!** ”

The bundle of vines blazed with electricity, the raw heat of the lightning arcing from the catfish turning the plant matter to cinders as the youkai freed itself. It began to fall back to earth, ready to resume the attack.

“All right, this thing is completely ludicrous,” Bakugou stated.

Apparently taking offense at his criticism, the Namazu slapped him with its electrified tail as it slipped back into the ground, knocking him across the clearing and into a tree. Tokoyami was at least thankful he avoided the lodge’s rubble - that would have likely ended messier. But with Bakugou down, Shiozaki’s hair ruined, and Todoroki’s ice less effective than hoped, they were running out of options.

“Midoriya,” he tentatively asked, “Are you ready for our fallback plan?”

The other boy gave a nod of messy green hair.

“Good. Wait until you get a good shot.”

Striding away from the few classmates who were left standing, Tokoyami and Dark Shadow took up a back-to-back position, ready to defend against the monstrous catfish’s next attack, wherever it might come from. At last, a fin appeared to both their sides, sweeping in with the intent to simply fry him with electricity where biting had failed. Dark Shadow reacted first, kicking off against the ground with strength augmented by the night’s darkness to hurl both of them to the side. As the Namazu corrected course, Midoriya struck.

The ground opened up into a massive crater, turned to nothing more than air by Midoriya’s powerful Quirk. Suddenly airborne, the ancient youkai was at its most vulnerable, and Tokoyami pounced, Dark Shadow growing to tremendous size in the as his protective rage and the midnight hour strengthened it. Grabbing the Namazu around its midsection, he roughly shoved one of the softballs Aizawa used for quirk assessment down the monstrous fish’s throat before hurling it into the air.

“ **You irritate me, child!** ” the catfish bellowed. “ **I was truthful when I said I would spare the rest of your class, but your futile efforts have squandered my patience!** ”

The beast reoriented itself in midair as it began its descent, aiming its head directly for the ground like an enormous falling bomb.

“ **Your resistance has done nothing but convince me to kill your entire class! Now, behold my greatest technique and despair! ** **GREAT CATFISH: WITH THIS ENDS THE FLEETING WORLD!** ”

The aura of electricity surrounding the Namazu intensified as it shot towards earth like a streak of lightning. Dark Shadow was barely able to intercept in time, but even still, it was fighting a losing battle against the youkai’s attack, as the beast somehow managed to convert its electricity into thrust.

Then, a slap echoed through the clearing, the sound somehow totally audible even over a roaring catfish and mighty crackle of electricity. Uraraka, unnoticed by the youkai, had clambered up Dark Shadow and slapped the fish across the face, fulfilling her role in Tokoyami’s last-ditch plan.

It still wasn’t enough. It would have been, had things gone according to plan, but the force applied by the Namazu’s bulk was negligible compared to the massive amount of thrust it was putting out. With every moment, Dark Shadow lost the battle, its hands dropping lower and lower as the piscine behemoth drew closer to the ground and its final victory.

A massive glacier erupted from the ground, pushing up and forcing Dark Shadow’s hands - and the Namazu clutched in them - higher. Shivering and pale from the cold, Todoroki could only offer a hopeful thumbs-up as he collapsed from exertion. The youkai’s shroud of electricity began to dim as its strength faded.

“ **You think you’ve WON? FOOL!** ” it roared. “ **Did you forget that a single motion from me will shatter this pathetic ice and seal your doom?** ”

As it moved to thrash, another miracle - Bakugou, who Tokoyami had thought unconscious, launched himself across the clearing with a massive explosion before landing on Dark Shadow’s arm, aiming both hands at the beast, and letting loose a near-deafening yell.

“DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!!”

The explosion he let loose was stronger than anything Tokoyami had seen from the blond before - and, as the distinct, faintly audible sound of snapping bone indicated, there was a reason for that. As Bakugou fell to the ground in anguish and Dark Shadow rapidly shrank from the light of the blast, The catfish’s prehensile whiskers whipped out, desperately seeking anything to halt its motion.

It was intercepted by the few remaining tendrils left on Shiozaki’s head, blocking its whiskers from grabbing anything more substantive as the last flickers of electricity burned through them and sealed its fate.

Roaring in futile rage, the Namazu grew smaller and smaller as it continued its skyward journey, unable to do anything to halt its motion. Uraraka’s ears twitched, the poor girl looking extremely nauseous and on the verge of vomiting.

“Hold it together, Uraraka,” Midoriya urged in a gentle tone, holding her hand comfortingly. “Just a little longer, please.”

Tokoyami found himself holding his breath as he watched the distance readout on Aizawa’s measurement device tick higher and higher, until it finally reached the number he was hoping for.

12,000m.

“It’s out of the atmosphere,” he reported, relief washing through him.

At last, Uraraka released her quirk, vomiting messily onto the ground as she did so.

Tokoyami finally allowed himself to collapse to his knees, catching a much-needed breath as he just lay there on the dirt next to Bakugou, the blond writhing in pain due to his broken arms. Shiozaki tossed a warm blanket she had salvaged from the lodge ruins over Todoroki’s shivering form, while Izuku hugged Uraraka tightly and did whatever he could to ease her quirk’s backlash. And, for a moment, they were triumphant.

Slow, sarcastic claps shattered the silence in the clearing, coming from an arrogant-looking man in a finely-tailored suit, hair carefully slicked back and combed until not a single strand was out of place.

“You did well to defeat my minion,” he said in a haughty, dismissive tone. “However, I’m afraid your journey ends here.”

Golden eyes met Tokoyami’s, practically stopping his heart with dread.

“Do you know who I am, boy? What your ancestor took from me?”

“You’re the Heavenly Sea,” Tokoyami replied, nearly petrified. “The demon she fought at Itsukushima.”

“Heavenly Sea?” the man repeated, hate clear in his eyes. “She didn’t even record my name properly?”

One white glove dropped to the ground as he prepared to make a show of his power.

“No. I am-”

His name was indistinguishable from a thunderclap in every way. If Tokoyami hadn’t seen his mouth move, and if it hadn’t been for the clear night sky, he could have sworn the demon had actually been interrupted by a thunderclap.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

“I said, my name is-”

Another crash of lightning split the sky as Shoji gave Tokoyami’s limp form another firm shake. Dazed, the bird-headed boy finally roused from unconsciousness.

“Wha…?”

“Earthquake,” Shoji replied simply, “and a big one. Falling branch knocked you out.”

_ Everyone! We are under attack by Villains! _ Mandalay’s urgent warning rang in their heads.  _ Anyone who can make it to the lodge should withdraw at once - do not engage any enemies you may encounter! _

A sharpened spear of enamel whipped through the air past Shoji, slicing off one of the tentacled boy’s many limbs as he failed to fully dodge the attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I mean, I couldn't _not_ use the Namazu for an April Fool's joke when I had the opportunity!


	33. Magical Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Training Camp is under attack!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 12k hits, over 400 comments, over 100 bookmarks, and an clean 375 kudos - buncha neat (ultimately arbitrary, like all milestones) milestones hit this time.
> 
> Chapter name is Double Dealing Character's 4th stage theme - a stage with a fantastic backdrop of dark storm clouds periodically lit with lightning. Now if only I didn't constantly mess up which Tsukumo Sister is which.

Pixie-Bob put a hand to her communicator. “Mandalay, damage report.”

“A lot of our stuff’s been toppled and I see some serious cracks in the structure,” the team’s telepathic coordinator replied. “I don’t think the lodge can withstand another hit like that. What was that? We didn’t get any reports about seismic activity today.”

Dark clouds swirled ominously in the skies to the east as the geokinetic scanned the horizon warily. At the same time, her tracking visor popped up an alert as five of her Earth Beasts were destroyed - all in the same,  _ eastern _ , part of the valley. She hopped up a tree as quickly as possible to get a better vantage point.

The clouds gathered and undulated in a manner that could only be described as unnatural, as though they were being manipulated by some sentient force, slowly churning through the sky in the direction of the lodge. As Pixie-Bob watched, tendrils of the dark storm began to snake through the skies ahead of the roiling mass, flashes of electrical activity illuminating the clouds from their interior. They were fast, sure, but that wasn’t what made her hair stand on end.

It was the way they were aiming perfectly for the lodge, how quickly the tendrils raced through the skies on a windless day, and how rapidly the weather conditions changed as the mass of clouds advanced.

Her hand was at her communicator even before she threw herself from her perch, screaming Mandalay’s name as she fell. No sooner had she leapt than a massive bolt of lightning crashed from the turbulent sky like the hand of a vengeful god, reducing the mighty oak to a pillar of charred carbon.

Mandalay’s response was swift and frantic. “Pixie-Bob!? What was that!? Are you all right!?”

The tree had been no taller than any others in the forest, but that had made no difference to the bolt of lightning - it had struck the exact tree she had been in with pinpoint precision and incredible force. No impartial natural law had given that bolt a target.

She put a hand to the broadcast button once more. “We’re under attack. Get the students to safety.”

* * *

Mandalay didn’t have to be told twice.

_ Everyone! _ She immediately broadcast,  _ We are under attack by villains! Anyone who can make it to the lodge should withdraw at once - do not engage any enemies you encounter! _

“How many enemies and what kind of quirks do they have?”

“At least two,” Pixie-Bob replied. “I don’t have eyes on them yet, but there’s an unnatural storm coming in, and that earthquake wasn’t natural either.”

“So at least a weather control quirk and an earthquake quirk…” Mandalay muttered. “That's an absolutely terrible power they have at their disposal. Do you think you can take them out yourself?”

* * *

Pixie-Bob cursed as she watched more of her creations disappear from her tracking visor.

“I don’t know if the earthquake villain’s disrupting them or the storm villain’s sniping them with lightning, but either way my Earth Beasts can’t make it close enough to engage. I might be able to swamp them with earth if I get closer, but a two-on-one situation is never good to be in.”

“Backup heading your way ASAP, the- whoa!”

A massive rumble, greater than before, rippled outwards from the storm’s center, toppling trees and splitting the earth in its wake. As it tore through the forest, Tsuchikawa Ryuko slammed her hands to the ground, Earth Flow forcing her will into the rock and soil of the forest on a scale she had attempted only a few times in her life. The students were still out there - the enemy had struck during the test of courage, and there was no way everyone could have gotten back to the lodge in time. They needed every second she could buy them, no matter the cost.

The effort felt like trying to halt a geyser with her bare hands, the immense force straining against every last iota of her control until, finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the destructive power ebbed away. She allowed herself to breathe for just a moment as a flickering light appeared in the distance.

“Mandalay,” she reported, “I think I have eyes on the enemy.”

* * *

Moonfish babbled incessantly as he swung through the air, wriggling in his straightjacket while his teeth skewered trees and the ground to maneuver him deftly around his opponents.

“Meat,” he mumbled. “Chewy sweet flesh. Can’t get distracted - boss said job first.”

Tokoyami dove to avoid another enamel spear, hoping desperately the escaped cannibal would continue to target him rather than go for Shoji.

“Tentacle kid injured already, but shadow kid still fine. Could interrupt meal.”

For as much as he and Dark Shadow had disliked their time with Komuso, he couldn’t deny one thing about his training - the monklike hero had definitely had the right idea on how to corral a quirk. Keeping a level head was probably the one thing that would get both him and Shoji out of this alive.

“Elis said kill, though…”

Shadowy arms batted away some of the villain’s stakes, diverting them from their intended path into trees and earth.

“I’ll kill one and capture the other,” Moonfish decided, sounding chillingly lucid. “They can’t get mad at me if I do what both of them said to do.”

* * *

“I’ll just be in the way with all these earthquakes,” Honenuki explained as he and Kodai withdrew. “If I use Softening carelessly it’ll be more harm than good.”

“I see,” she replied. “Then it would be best if- wait, isn’t she from 1-A? Why hasn’t she gotten out of-”

Uraraka looked up from where she was crouched on the path, desperately throwing a hand up in a warning. “Watch out!”

Showing why he got into UA on recommendation, Honenuki was already moving before Uraraka’s warning had fully left her mouth. Before she even knew it, Kodai had been pushed aside as he blocked a knife meant for her with his forearm. Softening caused the blade to drip away like water before it could become any more than a shallow wound.

“That’s not very nice, you know,” the knife’s wielder, a psychotic-looking blonde girl with her hair tied into two messy buns complained. “I just wanted to see your pretty blood, nothing too dange- whoa!”

She leapt back, dodging his counterattack as the ground below them liquefied into mud. He was quick to resolidify the ground as Uraraka ran over, but kept himself ready to reactivate his quirk the moment the villain did anything.

“Thanks,” Uraraka sighed in relief. “She attacked Ashido and I as we were trying to run back to the lodge - we got separated in the confusion.”

“We’re heading back there ourselves,” Kodai said. “Honenuki’s good against weapon-users, so you should be safe with us.”

As she said that, Toga leapt at them with another knife produced from somewhere, only to be intercepted by Uraraka grabbing her forearm and throwing her over her shoulder to the ground. Almost immediately on impact, the murderous schoolgirl disintegrated into a gray goo.

“Good, let’s get going.”

“Was that her quirk?” Honenuki asked.

“Yeah,” Uraraka replied. “She’s apparently able to create duplicates of herself. I’ve been fighting them off nearly constantly to make sure Ashido had the time to escape.”

“So we should proceed carefully, and watch for any further attacks from her,” Kodai reasoned as they began to withdraw once more.

* * *

Mandalay checked off the class rosters in her head as more students emerged from the forest in varying states of panic. Thankfully, the enemy had given themselves away well before getting into range - as things stood, they stood a decent chance at getting all the students to safety before the situation got too bad.

Reiko and Shiozaki emerged from the underbrush, hauling the unconscious forms of Kaminari and Shinsou behind them with their quirks.

“What are you doing?” the gray-haired magician demanded. “They’re attacking the forest! People are still out there!”

“I’ve already sent Tiger and Eraserhead to deal with -”

“Where!? We didn’t see anyone out there on our way back!”

“What Miss Yanagi is trying to get across,” Shiozaki interjected, “Is that some base scoundrel has taken the opportunity to unleash a sleeping gas onto the test of courage that is currently in progress. It was only due to her quick thinking and intervention that I was able to avoid the attack and withdraw.”

Mandalay paled. “Ragdoll, can you give me an update on the students?”

* * *

“Ragdoll?”

Mandalay’s voice was tinny and faint as it came out of the headset’s damaged speakers.

“This is why I look down on humanity,” Elis sighed. “All your ingenuity, your inventions, your much-praised ‘technology’ and ‘science’ - they’re nothing. You think you’re the smartest creatures in the world.”

Ragdoll glared at her opponent, blood dripping from the gash on her forehead.

Weaknesses: Magic, Prayer , Search dutifully reported. Something was definitely wrong - that was the third anomaly it had picked up in as many days. Both Midoriya and Uraraka’s statuses had seemed… off to her somehow, like her quirk was somehow lying to her about what they were. And now she was expected to believe her opponent’s weaknesses came straight out of a fairy tale? She kept her stance up, ready to dodge any attacks from her opponent.

“But you’re not,” Elis continued. “And it turns out that when you’re not beating down on weak, pathetic, animals, humans are honestly pretty worthless.”

“So, what?” Ragdoll sneered in reply, “You want to say that you’re not human? That just because you’ve got a strong quirk you think you’re part of some more ‘evolved’ version of the human race and justified in doing as you please?”

The magician rolled her eyes as she walked over to the Pussycat. 

“I see what you’re trying,” she said. “You’re baiting me into approaching you to monologue because you think you can beat me if you can just get close. But you’re sadly mistaken-”

_ If anyone out there is listening, _ Ragdoll silently prayed,  _ Please, let this work. _

A clawed hand lashed across Elis’s face, opening a bloody gash across the demon’s features and splitting the red star that adorned her left cheek in half. Black blood gushed out from the wound, sizzling against Ragdoll’s gloves and the ground alike. The demon let out a hiss.

“My quirk lets me see your weaknesses,” Ragdoll confidently declared as she pressed her advantage, bearing down on the demon with a flurry of swipes the magician was hard-pressed to evade. “If I need to pray to defeat you, I’ll just pray to whatever gods are-”

A clawed hand shot forward, impaling Ragdoll before it tore through her side, opening a massive hole in her stomach.

“ _ Prayer, _ ” Elis seethed, “only holds power as long as you truly  _ believe _ in it. Your heart was only in the first hit.”

She stomped hard on Ragdoll’s hand as the mortally wounded Pussycat tried to crawl for her communicator, bending down to grab the fallen headset herself and crushing it in her hands.

“Bleed out, for all I care.”

And with a shimmer of the air, Elis was gone, leaving Ragdoll to lie there as her vision began to fade.

* * *

“Pixie-Bob, this is bad,” Mandalay urged.

“Yeah, I’ll say it is,” the blonde Pussycat shot back, sending another spire of rock rising to try to do something, anything, to impede her foe. The crackling mass of electricity continued unabated in defiance of all laws governing electrical flow. “Where’s my backup?”

“I’m nearly there,” Tiger reported. “Eraserhead’s with me.”

“There’s more than just the enemy you’re fighting,” Mandalay warned. “The League hit the students while they were withdrawing from the Trial of Courage - the guys you’re fighting are a distraction to draw us away, I can’t get in touch with Ragdoll!”

“Shit,” Pixie-Bob cursed.

No time to try for a nonlethal solution. If the rest of the kids were in danger, she needed to wrap this up quickly and decisively. She just hoped this wouldn’t make things worse.

The earth swept up and around the humanoid mass of electricity and the five brass orbs that made up her foe, forming a cocoon of soil before collapsing and compressing, more earth piling on at her command until the enemy was completely buried under a landslide of her own creation. Panting from the exertion, she waited, watching for any sign of movement from the mass.

“Tiger,” she gasped into the communicator, “Go ahead and turn back around.”

* * *

The entity known as YuugenMagan had felt hate many times across her lives.

Once, hatred for a lofty daimyo who cared little for the plight of peasants under his rule. Then, hatred for a general who let his troops loot her village, taking nearly the entirety of their harvest, leaving them on the verge of starvation for a season. And finally, hatred towards the bandit chief who led the raid on her village, taking the entirety of the next harvest and condemning them all to a miserable death. 

She took that last grudge to her grave, sped along by the bandit chief’s blade as he ran her through for the offense of trying to protect what little food she had hidden away for her children.

Hatred for a bandit chief who had ended her life - settled by the chief’s blood and the blood of all his men, slaughtered as they tried in vain to harm the undying monster that had come for their heads. 

Hatred for three farmers, the men her village had sent to find help, desperately seeking the aid of any samurai fool enough to risk their lives for nothing more than a meal and the gratitude of peasants - settled by the farmers’ blood, spilled one-by-one as she tracked them down to the cities and villages they had scattered to, abandoning their hometown to die rather than return home with news of their failure. 

Hatred for the samurai class, obsessed with personal enrichment, who put on airs of ‘honor’ and ‘justice’ even as they refused to help her village simply because there was no reward in it - left unresolved. A wandering monk had seen to that, exorcising her with a mantra and a wish that her next life would be free from suffering.

Hatred for Elis, who always touched her, running clawed hands all over her eyes knowing full well she hated it.

Hatred for the people of Makai, who feared her, never meeting her eyes, making excuses to leave whenever she was near.

Hatred for Yumeko, who drove a sword through her eye and cut Elis’s arm off before they had even realized she was there, forcing a retreat during the Battle of Pandemonium.

Hatred for Shinki, who struck down her savior Sariel and sealed them away, leaving her with nothing.

Hatred for the Hakurei, who annihilated her eyes, leaving her on the verge of destruction but failing to deal the finishing blow.

Hatred for Midoriya Izuku, who dared to harm her and position himself as an obstacle to her vengeance.

YuugenMagan was no stranger to hatred. She would repay her grudges, every last one of them.

Then, and only then, could she finally rest.

Until then, nothing would stop her.

_ Nothing. _

* * *

Finally regaining her breath, Pixie-Bob stood back up, turning back in the direction of the camp. Her Earth Beasts would be an invaluable tool in the students’ defense, able to cover their retreat and bring people to safety on a truly massive scale. She quickly counted up the number of constructs still active - just over a dozen. Maybe not as much as she hoped, but it’d have to do.

“Mandalay,” she asked, “Where do you need my Earth Beasts?”

Lightning split the sky before she could hear the reply, three separate claps of thunder in rapid succession drowning out her teammate’s voice. Almost immediately, a torrential downpour began, soaking her to the bone as the soil began to soften into mud.

A brass orb forced its way to the surface before opening, a demonic red eye shooting a hateful glare her way.

* * *

“What the hell is she doing?” Mustard groaned, nervously checking the forest around him. The torrential downpour had dispersed his quirk’s gas, leaving him no better off sight-wise than anyone else in the forest. Worse, even, since he had a gas mask obstructing his vision.

The plan had been simple - let Elis and her pet be the vanguard and cause chaos before the main attack. Once the heroes were good and distracted, swoop in and attack the students directly, making UA look like fools who couldn’t protect their own students when push came to shove. His poison would make short work of the hapless high schoolers, and then the League could pick off the stragglers who avoided the initial attack at their leisure. That was the plan.

So why the hell had Elis’s minion decided to dump an ocean on them? Things were already bad enough - the vanguard had jumped the gun and launched the attack before everyone was in position, the muscle had run off to who knows where, and entirely too many of the students had been able to avoid the gas attack for Mustard’s liking. Worse, he had sensed two of them making their way directly towards him before his gas had been dispersed. His hand went to his gun, a nambu revolver he had stolen off a hapless police officer.

The only sound he could hear was thunder and pouring rain. The enemy could be crashing through the underbrush and he’d never hear it over the racket of the storm. He ducked over to a tree, pressing his back against it both to give himself cover and minimize his profile. They wouldn’t see him from the direction they were coming - he’d be able to get a shot or two off before they noticed. 

He pulled the revolver’s hammer back and waited.

The hero-in-training showed up soon enough, a musclebound metallic brute charging into the clearing with all the subtlety of a bulldozer. Mustard took his shot.

** _BANG_ **

A girl cried out in pain. Damn, then he had missed. Without his gas, he had only been able to guess where her head was. Apparently, she hadn’t been crouching like he had assumed.

“Kendo!”

Mustard swallowed his nervousness. “If you have a hardening quirk, it’s only natural that I’d go for your companion first, wouldn’t you say, ‘hero’?”

Under his gas mask, Tetsutetsu grit his teeth.

“I must admit, you’re hardly what I expected from a prodigious school like UA,” he continued, “don’t they teach you anything? Is it all about how to sign an autograph or the proper form for an interview?”

Tetsutetsu lunged again - Mustard dove to the side in response, revolver quickly flipping up to aim at his head. At this close range, he couldn’t miss.

** _BANG_ **

Tetsutetsu’s mask came to pieces as the bullet tore its way through the delicate construction. Seizing his opportunity, Mustard released his gas again - while he couldn’t engulf the forest in it, he could still manage to cover the clearing. Tetsutetsu’s hands immediately went to his mouth.

“Really? Holding your breath? Truly, you’re a luminary in your field. I don’t know why I doubted your education, really.”

** _BANG_ **

The shot served to keep the hardener off balance and focused on defense while he got into a better position, but he was seriously in a pinch - the nambu only held five shots. He had two shots to give himself an opening to reload.

Tetsutetsu glared at him with murder in his eyes.

“Now, that’s an unheroic look if I ever saw one. What? Can’t stand that I hurt your classmate?”

No response - unsurprising, since he was keeping his hands clamped firmly to his mouth.

Mustard smirked, not that the hardener could see it below his mask. “Can’t stand that I  _ missed _ ?”

_ That _ was some pure rage. Tetsutetsu charged again, and Mustard was quick to capitalize on it.

** _BANG_ **

The bullet, aimed low, struck true on the iron man’s shin, imparting just enough force to throw his balance off on the slick ground. Tetsutetsu slipped and fell, and Mustard was again quick to take advantage.

** _BANG_ **

A bullet slammed into the side of the boy’s iron head, knocking him down even as he tried to climb to his feet. He was bleeding from the wound.

“Is it me, or are you getting softer?” Mustard mocked. “You’ll have to breathe sometime, you know - whether you fall unconscious from my gas or your own refusal to take a breath makes no difference to me.”

He flipped the revolver’s cylinder open, retrieving more ammunition from his pockets. One way or another, Tetsutetsu would be dying here - whether he ran out of breath and released his hardening, or his steel skin finally gave way to the firearm’s assault.

As Mustard flipped the cylinder back closed, a flash of movement in the back of the boy’s steel head caught his eye. He dove to the side, barely avoiding a massive hand as he did so. Kendo had recovered and leapt to her classmate’s rescue, taking a swing at him even as she clutched a hand to her side to try to keep pressure on the gut wound he had inflicted on her.

** _BANG_ **

He was a good marksman, and at this range, he couldn’t miss. His shot struck true on her shoulder, but, though she winced in pain, she didn’t falter, enlarging her other hand and swinging even as he took a frantic second shot.

** _BANG_ **

The bullet tore through her kneecap, dropping the martial artist to one knee.

Mustard was thrown across the clearing into a tree trunk, his revolver falling from his grasp, but she was by far the worse off of the pair. Gritting his teeth at a protest from his ribs as he stood up, he stopped dead as he realized Tetsutetsu had  _ also _ gotten to his feet.

At this range, and injured as he was, Mustard had no hope of dodging.

An iron fist slammed into his face, shattering his gas mask and knocking him out cold.

* * *

Tokoyami wore Dark Shadow like a cloak, quirk and master acting in unison to fight the vicious, cannibalistic foe they were up against. One massive swipe flattened half a dozen trees as Moonfish nimbly sprung above it the shadowy limb, launching toothy spears into the tenebrous matter even as he dodged. Tokoyami didn’t even feel it. The raw power at his disposal - he was in awe of what he was wielding without being overwhelmed. In fact, he was a little afraid. Thankfully, Shoji had apparently assumed he had gone berserk and fled. He had to wrap this up before anyone else came across him.

“You’re a lucky man,” he told the villain. “Not many can say they’ve witnessed the overflowing power of the well of shadow.”

“Meat… babbling… nonsense.”

A massive fist slammed down, Moonfish darting out of the way before impact with the tremendous agility afforded him by his teeth. It was ultimately a useless effort - the teeth still had to make contact with something to keep the villain aloft, he couldn’t just defy gravity. Massive, shadowy arms swept in from both sides, snatching up as many of the teeth as they could and sealing Moonfish’s movement.

“Yawning…”

Dark Shadow’s hands raised high into the air, holding Moonfish to the night sky.

“Abyss…”

A single tooth lanced out from Moonfish’s mouth, aiming straight for Tokoyami’s heart.

“NOVA!”

Moonfish was slammed into the ground with all the strength the night-enhanced Dark Shadow could muster,shattering the villain’s teeth from the sheer force of the impact. His final attempt to harm Tokoyami was stifled just before it could connect.

For a moment, Tokoyami stared at his hands, impressed yet horrified by the raw power Dark Shadow afforded him.

“Dark Shadow…”

“Yes, Fumi?” the quirk rumbled.

“We can’t withdraw to the lodge. We need to fight, to stop this villain attack.”

“We can’t just stand by when we have the power to change things,” the quirk agreed.

Tokoyami didn’t need to tell the quirk where they needed to go. Dark Shadow turned, and started bounding for the heart of the storm.

* * *

“-nyone you can get here on short notice, we’re under a coordinated attack from the League of Villains, goal unknown.”

Izuku blinked awake to the sound of pouring rain, the crashes of thunder, and the nervous chattering of a dozen-odd students.

“...what happened?” He mumbled blearily, still exhausted.

“You passed out from training - Pixie-Bob figured you overused your quirk,” Reiko explained, in a manner that clearly indicated she was skeptical that the overuse of a nonexistent quirk had caused his fainting spell.

“The rest of us are here because the camp’s under attack by villains,” Uraraka added. “I got back in with Tsuyu a while ago, we had only just started the Test of Courage when the attack happened.”

Izuku practically sprang to his feet. “Villains!? We have to-”

“We sit tight, and stay here,” Reiko insisted. “The teachers are here for a reason, they can handle any garden variety villains that show up.”

“And if it’s worse than that?” He pressed. “If it’s the League, and they brought Elis with them?”

“Then we’ll have to fight. But until we know that, we should-”

Mandalay’s voice carried above the crowd of students. “One of them is made of eyes and lightning, some sort of crazy mutation quirk? Eraserhead is saying it showed up at USJ.”

“...we’ll slip out the back.”

As the group slipped away, a certain vine-haired girl rose to follow them, making sure nobody else had seen any of them leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Mustard seemed like he got a lot of screentime for a fight that was pretty similar to how canon went down,   
-A: Tokoyami/Elis were busy thrashing unprepared foes while Tiger/Eraserhead were running around to get to the fights, and   
-B: Yeah total favoritism on my part, not gonna hide it, I like Mustard. I restrained myself heavily with Suika (for now), but it's his five minutes of fame.
> 
> I compiled a big ol' list of powers that Onryo show off in various myths and so far I only used the natural disasters... well, I've got it in my pocket now.


	34. Thunderclouds of Magical Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A showdown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12,500 hits - and, perhaps more importantly, the all-important 420 mark on total comments (does it really count when my own responses count towards that total? Of course it does.)
> 
> Chapter title is the Extra Stage theme of Double Dealing Character

The lightning woman simply watched as Pixie-Bob threw a claw up, Earth Flow guiding the mud around her up in an arc just in time to intercept the next bolt of lightning from the storm as it blew her hasty shield to soggy chunks. The most unnerving part, in the Pussycat’s opinion, was that despite controlling the storm - and she was now positive this was the villain wielding the storm - the villain wasn’t even giving her her full attention, as if to say ‘you can’t do anything to me’. Only a single one of the villain’s eyes was fixed on her, while the rest gazed in the direction of the lodge.

Clenching one gloved paw, mud compressed into a solid spear before launching towards the ocular orb, splintering to bits on the eye’s surface to no avail. Pixie-Bob grimaced. If Ragdoll was around, she’d be able to tell her this thing’s weakness, but the team’s spotter was MIA, and without her the only thing to go on was the fact that her attacks at least  _ connected _ with the damn thing when she went for the orbs.

“I’m having trouble with this eyes-and-lightning thing,” she warned, “I’ll try to hold it off as long as I can, but I don’t know if I’m even doing anything to it.”

Instead of the missing teammate, Aizawa’s voice came through the communicator in response. Mandalay must’ve given him a spare unit, or at least the channel’s frequency. “That thing’s damn near impossible to actually damage, fast, and hits like a truck. Do  _ not _ underestimate it, whatever you do.”

“Yeah? You have any idea how it got stopped at USJ, then?”

“From what I’ve heard, All Might himself beat on it, and it wasn’t a short beatdown either.”

“...Shit, and since it’s back, even that didn’t put it down for good.”

The only saving grace was that it had basically stopped moving at this point, letting her try whatever she could think of.

There was a subtle shift in the air, a faint lessening of the air pressure that heralded a shift in the storm. The lightning woman quirked her head up, like she had just scented her favorite food - or something unpleasant - and could tell which direction the scent was coming from. It was a motion that carried a primal, predatory air that made Pixie-Bob’s hair stand on end. This monster was  _ tracking _ something.

She reached for her communicator to ask-

Not even fully facing her, the lightning woman shot a hand out in her direction, and every muscle in Pixie-Bob’s body froze. She was completely, utterly paralyzed, powerless to do anything but watch.

“Everyone, we have a situation,” Mandalay’s voice came crackling through the communicator, more urgently than ever.

“Some of the students have disappeared from the lodge - I know for a fact that Midoriya spent the night recovering from overexerting himself during quirk training, but he’s gone. I’m doing a headcount now to figure out who else left with him.”

Pixie-Bob’s blood ran cold as her opponent began to float away into the forest. No.  _ NO. _ She would  _ NOT _ let that villain go on to harm students under her care, students who knew nothing about what sort of monster was coming for them. With an absolutely herculean effort, she summoned every last ounce of willpower to force herself to move.

Nothing.

A bolt of lightning descended to earth.

* * *

“We need a plan to take YuugenMagan on,” Reiko insisted. “You remember what Yumeko told us - she’s got enough power to drive a military force out of a city.”

“She wasn’t that fast at USJ, though,” Uraraka pointed out. “She shouldn’t be able to dodge all three of us at once.”

“And her magical projectiles all come from her eyes,” Izuku added. “She can’t bring her full firepower to bear on us all at once if we spread out.”

“...that’s barely a plan in the loosest sense of the word.”

“It’s all we’ve got! If we want to stop any more casualties from-”

“If we aren’t careful about this, we’ll  _ become _ more casualties, so we need to have a solid plan before-”

“Excuse me,” a girl’s voice interrupted. “I couldn’t help but wonder why you were sneaking away from the lodge.”

Shiozaki Ibara had followed them, apparently.

“How many more of you followed us?” Reiko asked.

“It was just me,” the vine-haired girl admitted. “Foolish though it may seem, I didn’t want to risk any of my classmates coming to harm.”

“What’s foolish is that you decided to come after us rather than telling Mandalay, ignoring orders to stay put in the process. Go back to the lodge.”

“But I cannot! Truthfully, I came to ask a favor, selfi-”

“It’s. Dangerous.” Reiko insisted. “You shouldn’t be out here,  _ we _ shouldn’t be out here, so the safest thing to do is to just-”

Izuku interrupted the magician’s brewing tirade. “What did you want?”

“I was wondering if I could join you in your search for our wayward classmates.”

“Our wayward…?”

“You’re out here looking for the 1-A students who haven’t made it back to the lodge, yes? I can think of no better reason why you’d be leaving safety than to nobly risk yourself in the protection of others.”

He shook his head. “No, we were going to try to stop-”

A sizzling sound filled the air as YuugenMagan stalked towards them from the shadows of the wood, placing her hand on a nearby tree and burning its bark off with the raw electrical current flowing through her ethereal form.

“-that thing.”

* * *

“You’re sure this is the way to the lodge?” Honenuki asked for the fourth time in ten minutes. “We’ve strayed pretty far off the trail.”

“Of course I’m sure,” Uraraka responded, almost rudely. “The main path is impassible - that earthquake earlier opened a rift right on the trail. We need to cut through the forest to go around it.”

“But Kodai can change the size of objects,” he objected. “She could easily turn a branch into a bridge for us, we should take the-”

Faster than he could react, Uraraka bent backwards, springing off the forest floor in a thrusting leap as her arm whipped a hidden knife out from some unknown location. It sunk deep into his shoulder before he even realized she was attacking.

“Hone-”

Uraraka ripped the blade from his shoulder, running a tongue through the blood in an unnerving display. 

“It’s so pretty when people bleed,” she laughed in a sing-song voice, her voice shifting in pitch and tone as her form melted away to become a mirror image of Honenuki himself. “Your quirk’s not fair, though, melting my knife before I can cut you.”

The doppelganger giggled. “But I got you this time, and now I can see how beautiful you are when you’re painted crimson - isn’t that nice?”

“Who are you, and what did you do with Uraraka?” Honenuki demanded, ready to activate his quirk at a moment’s notice.

“I don’t know,” the imposter confessed. “I haven’t seen her all night. I wish I had, though - this sample they gave me is delicious.”

That was good, then - he didn’t have to worry about wayward 1-A students, just his own partner. It was just one of her against the two of them, they could hold her off while making their way back to base.

“Kodai, I’ll stall her and catch up with you later, just run!”

No response.

His duplicate thrust again, and he quickly ducked to the side and used Softening to neutralize the knife. At the same instant, the air around where he had been only a moment ago vanished in a flash of pale blue.

“Toga, can’t you restrain yourself for just a moment?”

“Oh,” the double responded flippantly, “You missed, Mr. Compress.”

“Only because you made him dodge,” Compress replied, and Honenuki was now able to spot the stage magician-themed villain perched in the branches of a nearby tree. “He didn’t even know I was here.”

“What does it matter, anyways,” Toga grumbled. “It’s still two against one, and we have a hostage.”

Honenuki’s blood ran cold. “Hostage?”

“Yeah, Compress has your friend in that little blue marble thingy he’s got.”

“Appreciated.”

He immediately threw his quirk into action, Softening the ground and the forest around them. Under the torrential rainfall from the storm, the now-amorphous terrain undulated wildly, throwing Compress from his perch. Canceling the softening for just an instant, Honenuki leapt up to intercept the marble as it sailed through the air, delivering a kick to Toga’s stomach and sending her stumbling back as he landed on the ground hand-first and Softened it to sink into the floor in a swift escape.

_ I’m sorry, Kodai, _ he mentally apologized as he swam through the soil,  _ I’ll be getting you out of there as soon as we’re safe. _

He could hold his breath for a solid two minutes - more than enough time for him to lose his opponents, even without the benefit of the oxygen tanks he had designed his suit with.

“...and that is why you don’t taunt your opponents, Toga, dear,” Compress commented as the hero-in-training slipped away.

“Aw, but taunting’s  _ fun _ . We’ve still got one captive, don’t we?”

“Yes, but we passed up the opportunity for a second,” he sighed, retrieving the marble that contained Kodai Yui from its hiding place under his tongue. “And I really would have liked to take more than just this one.”

* * *

YuugenMagan sailed through the air with a single-minded determination, shooting straight for Izuku like he was the only other being in existence - and to the vengeance-maddened demon, he might as well have been. This made it easy enough for Uraraka and Reiko to split off as per their plan of attack, though the werewolf darted back in almost immediately to rake a claw across the surface of one of the floating eyes as it sailed past. She hissed in pain as it came back coated in boiling blood, but the proof she had done some damage was clear, even if the demon didn’t show any sign of it.

Izuku, meanwhile, threw up a stone wall in front of him to stall the monster’s attack, a wall that was almost immediately destroyed by brute force as YuugenMagan reached her crackling hands into it and tore it in two. Three eyes locked onto the half-youkai, glowing with malevolent force as they prepared to launch projectiles.

At this point, Shiozaki finally recovered from her shock, her vine hair whipping up to shield Izuku from attack at the same time that it lashed out against the electric demon.

“What manner of foul creature is this?” She gasped. “This is an affront to creation.”

“It’s a villain that attacked us at-”

“It’s a Demon,” Izuku answered truthfully, cutting off Reiko’s lie. “It’s invaded our world from the world of demons, and it’s weak against attacks backed by prayer.”

Reiko would probably skin him alive if they made it through this, he reflected, but it was best that Shiozaki understood exactly what they were up against, and if there was anyone he’d pick from among 1-A and 1-B to help out in a situation like this, the girl who had accidentally attempted to exterminate him was as good a choice as any. Shiozaki, to her credit, took the revelation well, immediately going into combat mode.

“Oh wayward, forsaken soul, I pray for thy salvation,” she intoned, and Izuku felt his hair stand on end as Faith surged through her vines. “God willing, thou shall not harm innocents this day.”

YuugenMagan shrieked, a shrill, unnatural noise that resembled a fusion of the sound of metal on metal and whistling steam and seemed to reverberate from all around them rather than a single source. The woman’s form became more sharply defined, the electricity crackling around her silhouette growing stronger and more directed. Two eyes jerked aside to avoid an attack from Reiko as they focused on the mass of vines in front of her.

“I pray that thy wrath may fade from this world, that you may find peace in the next,” Shiozaki continued, her composure not faltering. 

“Midoriya,” she added in between prayers, her voice sounding supremely calm despite what she was about to say, “The demon is burning through my vines, but I am unable to move them through some malign force.”

Izuku darted out to the side of the mass of vines in response, finding that YuugenMagan had aimed all five of her baleful gazes at Shiozaki’s defensive wall while her spectral body tore its way slowly through the dense foliage, raw electricity searing vines in twain even as her faith allowed the plant life to cling to the demon’s body. Two of the eyes were glowing blue, a tell he faintly remembered from his brief battle with her at USJ.

He locked eyes with Uraraka, subtly nodding his head towards the nearer of the two eyes in an instant of wordless communication their training with Reisen had long since taught them. As he lunged, tearing a sheet from his booklet and turning it into a tanto, she made her own attack, leaping into the air and pushing off a tree to shoot for the helpless eye, focused on Shiozaki’s defenses.

The remaining three eyes all focused on him as one, charging up their attacks in an instant. Magical projectiles sailed forth, a focused crossfire that would have been easy to dodge at range, but was effectively unblockable as he closed in on his target and directly into their path.

“ Afterlife Sign: Circle of Clay ”

At Reiko’s invocation, a whirling shield of clay soldiers sprang up around him, intercepting the demon’s bullets with their bodies as he drove the tanto as deep as he could into YuugenMagan’s eye. Simultaneously, Uraraka tore into the other blue eye with both claws, viciously mauling the orb like it was responsible for every evil in her life - and, to be fair, it had certainly caused her a lot of grief.

The electric woman finally tore herself free of Shiozaki’s entangling mass, whipping back through the air and grabbing at Izuku in a futile attempt to stop him before he leapt away to safety. Any relief he felt as her crackling hand missed his leg was short-lived, however, as the three intact eyes whirled a full 360 degrees in the air, sweeping a trio of lasers along the ground to effectively attack the entire group at once with a dense, focused attack.

A full third of Shiozaki’s vines burned away in an instant under their withering glares. Uraraka, nimble as ever, leapt up to a tree to dodge, only to be intercepted in midair as the eyes whipped their gazes up to follow her. Reiko’s magical shields held, but barely - Izuku could see her grimace and use her telekinesis to form additional runes to bolster her defenses against the assault. Finally, the gazes turned to him, and his world blazed with agony under the heat and power of the lasers even as he turned the ground around him into a protective shell, mud solidifying into more exotic materials and sweeping up in a multi-layered defense that sought to hinder the beams’ heat and progress through ablation rather than standing up to the assault directly.

YuugenMagan  _ vaulted _ his defense, one crackling lightning hand latching onto the top of the structure and hauling the rest of the demon up and over in an acrobatic move even Aizawa would have admitted looked smooth and well-rehearsed. As vines whipped through the air, snapping at the electric woman like whips in an attempt to force the demon back, she reached down, grabbed Izuku by the neck, and hurled him across the clearing, her two injured eyes blinking blood from their sight as he sailed through the air. A rumble of thunder in the clouds above, and a bolt of demonic lightning soared straight down from the sky to intercept him in mid-flight, breaking through at least five layers of magical shielding Reiko had hastily tossed up above their battlefield to try to protect against such an attack, as well as the defensive shroud of his own Ability. It felt like fire running through his veins, pain coursing through every last cell.

YuugenMagan let her body touch down on the muddy forest floor, electricity arcing off and dancing across the puddles as she began to slowly walk across the clearing, savoring every step that carried her closer to her victim’s demise. Two eyes glowed blue and focused on Shiozaki, locking her in place, while another two did the same to Uraraka, keeping the werewolf from even beginning to get up from the muddy ground, even as her wounds finished knitting themselves closed. The final eye, focusing briefly, focused its gaze on Reiko, shooting a powerful magical laser at the magician and forcing her to devote her entire attention to defense.

The Onryo-turned-Demon leaned down, closed her hand around Izuku’s throat, and began to squeeze.

Suddenly, the world went black. A massive roar heralded the arrival of a tremendous beast of shadow, its form shrouding the moon from sight as it slammed one arm into YuugenMagan’s eyes, forcing the demon back, releasing Izuku from her grasp, and disrupting her attacks on the rest of the group.

** _“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?”_ ** Dark Shadow roared.

Springing back into action immediately, both Shiozaki and Uraraka leapt to their feet to maintain pressure on YuugenMagan, who was already reforming after her form had been temporarily disrupted by Dark Shadow’s attack.

“It’s a demon,” Izuku coughed, trying to shake off the effects of YuugenMagan’s electrical grip and her attempted strangling. “From Makai.”

Even though Tokoyami was nearly entirely hidden within his own quirk, Izuku could tell the bird-headed boy was smiling.

“I knew it.”

“Gloating later, demon slaying now,” Reiko insisted, chanting the incantation for her slowest, heaviest-hitting spell.

“I can do both at once!”

** _“We knew you knew too much about Youkai for them not to exist!”_ **

YuugenMagan’s eyes focused again, all five this time, preparing for another spinning laser. Uraraka yelped and ducked away - getting hit by three lasers from across the clearing was bad enough, she didn’t trust she could handle five at point blank range. Shiozaki portioned her remaining hair into five groups to completely blanket the eyes and try to stop the attack before it could be launched, only for YuugenMagan’s body to begin searing the vines off. Reiko continued chanting.

** _“That seems bad,”_ ** the monstrous shadow commented, neatly clutching all the demon’s eyes in one enormous clawed hand.  ** _“Okay, ouch, shit, yeah, this is bad! Everyone take cover, I’m gonna have to-”_ **

“ Afterlife Sign: Eternal Oblivion! ”

Blinding white light engulfed the clearing, turning night to day with the sheer magical power on display as Reiko’s finishing move was unleashed upon the demon contained in Dark Shadow’s hand. Shiozaki’s few remaining vines, still in the area of effect, were burned to ashes as the shadow quirk shrank back to its daytime size and continued shrinking, Tokoyami landing badly on his ankle with a distinct cracking noise. Uraraka and Izuku, both clear of the blast, still had to shield their eyes against the radiance of the blast.

Before their vision could even fully return, a distinct electrical crackling filled the air. Blinking the spots from his vision, Izuku saw YuugenMagan standing there, her electrical form clutching a hand to its side like she had suffered a grievous wound, one last heavily singed, badly damaged eye glaring at him with all the hate the demon could muster.

Above them, thunder rumbled through the clouds.

He threw his Ability into action, shrouding himself completely in his transformation powers in the desperate hope that he could buy even a millisecond of time for the rest of them to recover.

And as the lightning bolt descended upon him, it abruptly changed direction, launching off from him at a ninety degree angle just before striking him and lancing straight through YuugenMagan’s final eye, obliterating it in a blaze of demonic lightning. The demon’s hateful shriek nearly deafened them, fading at last after what seemed like an eternity before finally leaving them in the near-silence of the slowly fading storm. Torrential rainfall slowly petered away into a faint drizzle, and then, nothing.

“Did we do it?” Tokoyami breathed. “Did we manage to slay that thing?”

“Yeah,” Reiko exhaled, her magical reserves nearly drained, “Yeah, I think we did.”

“May… may its soul find peace, wherever it may end up,” Shiozaki gasped.

“ _ Avici _ ”

The world blazed like a furnace, the trees around them cracking, splintering, and bursting into flames from the raw heat. It hurt to breathe.

“You, Midoriya Izuku, have proven yourself to be quite the nuisance,” Elis hissed as she stalked out of the shadows towards the exhausted group. “Do you have any idea how long it took to put YuugenMagan back together? How long it’s  _ going _ to take this time, now that you’ve done even worse damage?”

His throat was too dry for him to speak - any  _ hint _ of moisture in the air had long sense disappeared with the tremendous heat.

“No, of course you don’t.”

She ran a demonic claw right down his shirt, splitting it open and leaving a thin cut in his skin.

“I could kill you right here, right now, as easy as breathing.”

Instead, her hand tightened around his amulet. She pulled, and it tore away in her hand.

“But that would be too quick for you. Have fun fading - can’t say I’ll miss you after what you’ve just done.”

He managed to force one of his arms to move, clutching onto her forearm. Uraraka was too far away, he had no hope of reaching her in time with the demonic magician’s magic in effect - he had to stop her from leaving with the amulet. Elis sneered at his effort.

“It’s cute that you think you have any way to stop me.”

Shimmering like a mirage, she was gone.

As his senses began to fade one by one, her final word rang in his ears plain as day.

“Goodbye.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reiko's Circle of Clay spell card is invoking Haniwa figures, terracotta clay figures buried with the dead during the Kofun period of Japanese history. Haniwa uses the characters for "clay" and "circle" in reference to the fact that they were often arranged in a circle above the tomb.
> 
> YuugenMagan's paralysis move was already used, albeit in a weaker form, back in Chapter 8, and comes from the story "Of a Promise Broken" as recounted by the writer Lafcadio Hearn (also known as Koizumi Yakumo, after moving to Japan and taking a Japanese name), wherein the Onryo of a deceased woman, seeking vengeance upon the bride that her husband has taken after her demise, returns at the hour of the Ox (roughly between 1-3 AM) to kill the new bride. In doing so, the Onryo bypasses the bride's guards, who report that they heard the bell announcing the Onryo's arrival, heard the bride's scream of terror, felt the bride try and shake them awake, but were unable to move or speak, powerless to do anything while the Onryo slaughtered her intended victim. Her earthquakes and storms, meanwhile, come from the Onryo of Sugawara no Michizane (later deified as Tenjin, kami of scholars and poets), who, according to legend, blighted the capital with natural disasters after his death in exile when his rivals in court had him disgraced and thrown out. The disasters seemed to target his enemies, and supposedly only stopped after a wandering monk identified him as the cause and had the emperor put up a shrine to his honor.


	35. Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both sides lick their wounds and take stock of what they've gained from the Training Camp Incident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now 13,000 hits is broken. How fitting - the end of last chapter sure was an unlucky intervention for our heroes.
> 
> One of Immaterial and Missing Power's pre-battle themes, and one that I don't seem to remember being in that game at all. I should probably replay IaMP.

Aizawa activated Erasure for the umpteenth time that night as he watched Magne heft her massive steel bar to one shoulder, preventing her from using her quirk. He knew of her by reputation - a successful villain even before joining up with the League, with a number of murders and robberies below her belt - but, as with so many, she relied too heavily on her quirk.

Then again, he reflected as a punch came just a bit too close for his liking, maybe she wasn’t as bad about that as some other villains he had fought in the past.

“What are you villains playing at?” Tiger demanded, flexible body weaving deftly to the side to avoid a swing from the lizardlike villain, the massive sword shedding loose knives as it fell through the air.

“I seek to carry on Stain’s work and avenge him!” the villain shouted in response. “Modern ‘heroes’ are craven and greedy - they forsake the ideals of true heroics in favor of lining their pockets, only doing things for glory rather tha- whoop!”

Tiger’s tail swept the lizard’s legs out from underneath him in the middle of his monologue, and the Pussycat took the opportunity to deftly wrap the accessory around the villain’s body, immobilizing him. At the same time, Aizawa’s capture weapon shot out to try to restrain Magne but ultimately came up short, only managing to snag the villain’s weapon. She released it with a laugh.

“Not good enough, Hero!”

He released the bindings, the iron bar falling to the ground at his feet with a clang as his practiced movements coiled the capture weapon for another strike. 

“You’re disarmed,” he pointed out.

“That wasn’t what she was referring to,” came the calm, familiar voice of the League’s warp quirk user. “Well done, Spinner, Magne, you’ve done admirably well in your tasks as distractions.”

Aizawa immediately activated his quirk, fixing his gaze on Kurogiri before the villain could warp his companions away. He needed to take him down before his time limit wore out, and-

A knife flew into his goggles, cracking the glass and forcing him to flinch at the fragments exploding less than an inch from his eyes. By the time he reopened his eyes, the villains were gone, save for a lone schoolgirl with messy blonde hair.

“Oops,” she laughed, exposing pointed fangs. “I missed.”

As his capture weapon wrapped around her, her body melted into gray goo, and she was gone as well.

* * *

Vlad King rushed through the forest as fast as he could, cursing his choice to stay and guard the lodge with Mandalay. Of course the villains wouldn’t attack the lodge itself, it was filled with heroes-in-training! Their best option was to take out the stragglers who fell behind during the retreat, they had probably timed their attack specifically to coincide with the Test of Courage when the students would be the farthest away they’d get from the safety of the lodge.

Pixie-Bob had last been seen in the direction of the storm’s epicenter, the same direction that was now the heart of a burgeoning forest fire, judging from the smoke rising above the treeline. He needed to find her and get her out of there, as well as any other students who might be in the area.

He stopped dead at the edge of a clearing. It looked more like a war zone than a forest - huge craters, fissures, and scorch marks dotted the area, and several massive attacks had clearly been launched - In particular, he recognized the wreckage of numerous stone barriers as the work of Aizawa’s Midoriya kid. More than that, his blood ran cold as he recognized the prone forms lying in the clearing as those of Midoriya, Yanagi, Tokoyami, Uraraka, and his own student Shiozaki.The heat radiating from the clearing was immense, almost like an oven, and he could tell that this was the source of the fire. 

He had no time to waste.

With barely even a thought, Blood Control went into action, his fluids forming tendrils to retrieve the wounded students from the devastation and deposit them neatly in a row away from the intense heat. He hesitated for just a second, almost wanting to leave them there and trust they’d be safe while he found Pixie-Bob, but their safety took absolute priority.

He did a double-take when he saw the Pussycat in question come limping out of the treeline, badly singed, looking like she was about to collapse, and apparently completely unable to even feel the intense heat of the unnatural oven she had just walked into.

“The kids… safe?”

Unable to come up with the words for a response, he just nodded.

“Good,” she weakly replied, collapsing into the dirt.

He grabbed her too.

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity trapped in darkness, Kodai Yui finally found herself sprawling across the wooden floor of a dimly-lit room. Based on the stench of alcohol, she assumed she was in a bar somewhere. She forced herself to keep a clear head and scan the room for exits as best she could without making it obvious.

“I’m surprised, I’ll admit it,” a woman’s voice sneered. “I thought you’d screw up somewhere, charlatan.”

“Of course not,” a man replied. “I’m a professional, unlike some.”

The Villain who had taken her, then.

“I expected worse after hearing both the brute and the brat got taken down.”

“Which, you may note, was _ your _ fault - if you had told us what your little pet was going to do ahead of time, we could have worked around it, but instead-”

The two villains were clearly occupied with more important matters than watching a lone hostage. Fine by her - she began crawling for the only door she could see, as quickly as she dared to move while they argued.

“-pathetic _ weaklings _ can’t deal with a few unexpected battlefield conditions, I don’t know why you’re even bothering to-”

“That’s not the point! We’re already at a disadvantage with the prevalence of heroics in modern society, there’s no reason for us to be making things even harder on ourselves by-”

Right before she reached the door, it swung open, and someone moved to block her path. Looking up from the dark brown leather dress shoes and black suit pants, she saw a villain dressed in a white shirt, suit vest, and tie, seemingly made entirely of a shadowy black mist. She knew him from various bulletins that had circulated since the first attack on UA - Kurogiri, high ranking member of the League of Villains and one of the masterminds behind the attack on the USJ during 1-A’s rescue training.

“Mr. Compress, Miss Elis, the two of you should secure the captive before beginning your daily argument,” he lightly scolded, though there was no real bite in his tone - apparently, infighting was a regular occurence between these two villains.

“Aw, what does it matter if we let her get a block or two before running her down, anyways?” Elis laughed.

“Again with the unnecessary risks - if we simply let her run free, that’s an opportunity for our lair to be discovered,” Compress objected.

“If she’s that big a risk, then I might as well remove her legs right now.”

A chill shot down Kodai’s spine.

“After all,” the demonic woman continued, “It’s not like she needs them.”

A cloud of dark smoke engulfed Elis as she lunged, depositing her neatly on the other side of the bar.

“Elis,” Kurogiri firmly stated, “You are to indulge your sadism _ elsewhere _, or Sensei will outright reject your request.”

“Wait, request? What sort of personal favors is she asking-”

The misty villain ignored Compress’s interruption. “Do you understand, Elis?”

Grumbling, the bat-winged woman turned away, shimmered like a mirage, and disappeared. Kodai found herself releasing a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

“Mr. Compress, if you would please restrain our hostage?”

“I still don’t see why you keep her around.”

“Her capabilities are undeniable,” Kurogiri sighed as he walked over to the bar. “And for the time being, it’s more useful to have her as a nominal ally than an unknown factor. Hm.” 

“Problem?”

“I imagine we’ll need to have a few more people here before you release our other captive. And some blast-resistant bindings.”

* * *

Mustard weighed his options. They had handcuffed him quite securely to a bar welded onto a metal table, too heavy for the middle schooler to have any hope of throwing it around - he was a thinker, not some musclebound lunk - and without his mask, he couldn’t use his quirk without becoming his own first victim. Even had they left him to his own devices, the interrogation room left little in the way of options. It was furnished only by chairs for him and his interrogator, the aforementioned table, and a single lamp.

He almost laughed, honestly - it was too cliche, a scene straight out of practically every american crime movie. He could see it now - they’d send one officer in first to play hardball, try to hammer home how much trouble he was in, then follow up with the Good Cop to try to get some info out of him for the promise of a lighter sentence.

Right on schedule, the bad cop walked through the door. A skinny, bony fellow, with greasy, ragged hair and a rather untidy scruff adorning his face. The harsh scent of cigarettes clung to him like a shroud.

_ Officer Muzan _, his nametag read. Mustard found it hard to believe someone this unkempt was on the force, but he was standing right in front of him.

“You’ve certainly got yourself in a heap of trouble, kid,” Muzan began, placing a folder on the table in front of them.

“For the record, my name is-”

“I don’t give a shit.”

He flipped the folder open, taking a look at the first document in there.

“ ‘s a very nice gun we found on you.”

“I want a lawyer,” Mustard stated.

Muzan raised an eyebrow, a distinctly unfriendly grin making its way onto his haggard-looking face. “Izzat so? Where’d you learn that, huh? Some foreign crime drama? Watch a few too many of those and think you can get away with waving a gun around by sobbing to the jury, ‘oh, boo hoo, I’m so young, I didn’t know any better’?”

The young villain gulped.

“News flash, kid - it don’t work like that. The investigation ain’t part of the trial, you get no counsel. So, I’ll say it again: You got a nice gun.”

He kept silent.

“Five-shot Nambu revolver, standard police issue, has been since before the rise of quirks. You get it off an officer? Knock ‘em out with your gas and run off with it?”

Not a word passed his lips.

“I’ll put that down as an ‘investigate further,’ then. You definitely agree with me that it’s a nice gun, though - we have witness accounts of you using it. The two aspiring heroes who fought you and half a dozen of their classmates who heard the gunshots.”

Mustard kept his gaze focused and steady. Just keep his silence, hold out for the Good Cop, have his day in court.

Muzan chuckled. “Don’t you worry, the constitution says you can’t be compelled to testify against yourself. Keep quiet all you want, we can figure out your guilt in court. Anyways, that brings us to the first concrete charge: by possessing that revolver, you are in violation of the Firearm and Sword Possession Control Law, Article 3.”

“And if I legally acquired it?” Mustard immediately shot back. He regretted it almost immediately.

“Oh?” the officer smirked. “So you’re legally required to carry a firearm as part of your duty as a Villain? Certainly not, I’m sure the laws don’t say anything about that. Oh, or maybe you’re an employee of a public organization, and had that revolver for testing or research? In that case, I commend you on your youthfulness - you don’t look a day over 12!”

“I- I-”

“You’re storing it as per Article 10-5? Certainly! I’ll just need proof of that. You’re certainly not a gun shop owner - I looked them all up to make sure none of them were middle schoolers - and you’re no gun manufacturer, either.”

Mustard finally hung his head in defeat.

“Not a verbal confession, so I’ll just note you have no defense for your illegal possession of a firearm,” Muzan remarked, jotting the details down on a pad with undisguised sadistic glee. “Next, Article 3-3: you had ammunition, and a lot of it - how many shots was that you fired? Six? Seven? Eh, doesn’t matter, I’m sure the hero kids’ll be happy to tell us. Anyways, ammo’s illegal to possess if a gun is, so let’s put you down for that too. We found fifteen bullets - quite a lot, very nice, you wanted to make sure you wouldn’t run out. So, fifteen charges.”

That… that was a lot. Despite his best efforts, Mustard felt a bead of sweat making its way down his neck. The officer continued, uncaring.

“Article 3-4, import of handguns, etc, you’re probably clear on that but we’ll know once the lab finishes running the serial number. Article 3-7, lending a firearm… did someone you know give you that?”

The young villain shook his head mutely.

“I’ll make a note to just double-check that to be sure… Article 3-12, no person shall receive by conveyance any handgun ammunition. I’ll put you down for fifteen counts of that, too.”

Mustard would have leapt to his feet if the positioning of the handcuffs, chair, and table had allowed it. “That’s ridiculous! I-”

“Definitely didn’t manufacture that ammunition yourself, so unless you want me to throw fifteen counts of theft on there, too, you bought it from some black market dealer. Sit _ down _, kid.”

He shrank back down into his chair.

“And, finally, Article 3-13, discharging a firearm at or in any location frequented by a large number of people. Buncha hero students at summer camp, I’d say that’s a large amount. Seven counts, with a note to make sure that’s how many shots you fired.”

Well, at least it was over. That was a big pile of charges, but he could hopefully fight for lenient treatment, argue that-

“Skipping chapters 2 and 3 of the law since they’re not relevant,” Muzan muttered, flipping to the next page of the folder. “Chapter 4, Article 24: A person carrying or transporting a firearm or sword shall always carry the permit or Certificate of Registration of said firearm or sword. You didn’t come by that pistol legally, so you definitely don’t have a defense for this. One count. You feel like making a deal yet?”

Mustard was sure he was trembling now, but the officer was done. He had weathered the Bad Cop, he could ignore the Good Cop and go to court and act like he fell in with the wrong crowd to get out in a couple years tops.

“Suit yourself, kid,” Muzan shrugged, standing up from his seat and stretching before meandering towards the exit. “Can’t say I envy your chances. Just so you know, each of those gunshots of yours is a minimum of three years and a max of life imprisonment, the gun is one to ten, and each bullet is up to five and a fine of up to a million yen. So you’re looking at a possible max of seven life sentences, sixty-five years, and fifteen million yen, just off the gun charges alone - I’m not even including stuff like the attempted murders and the quirk use charges. Better hope the judge is feeling generous that day.”

As Muzan grasped the doorknob, Mustard pointed out, “You mean, I better hope the _ jury _ is feeling generous.”

The officer stopped, turning back to the middle schooler with an incredulous look. “_ Jury _ ? Geez, kid, they slacked when teaching you, huh. This isn’t one of your US crime dramas, there’s no angry guys in a back room arguing over whether they think you did it or not. The _ judge _ , and it’ll just be the one guy, is gonna take a look at the evidence, testimonies, and the arguments of the prosecution and your defense guy, and decide for himself what you’re getting handed to you. So yeah, you better hope the _ judge _ is feeling generous that day, or you’ll never see the light of day again.” 

His words hung in the air like a specter as Mustard slowly realized just how fucked he was.

Seeing the young villain’s faltering confidence, Muzan’s lips curled into a vicious smile. “That is, unless you want to secure yourself a lighter sentence by cooperating with us.”

* * *

Muzan was cackling like a hyena as he watched Mustard spill his guts to one of the station’s less abrasive officers through the interrogation room’s one way mirror.

“Did you see the look on the brat’s face? I swear, I love it when I get the kids.”

“No, I didn’t,” Tamakawa Sansa replied, rolling his eyes. “You know I find it hard to watch your interrogations.”

The ragged-looking officer shrugged off his feline coworker’s response. “I get results. Without me, you’d have needed to call Tsukauchi in, and that quirk of his wouldn’t help none against that kid’s firmly shut jaw, so you’d have had to go to court. Instead, we got that brat telling us every last thing he can remember about his buddies in the League. He’d probably tell us what they had for breakfast a week ago and how everyone likes their toast if he thought that’d keep him out of the slammer.”

At last, the other officer - Yasako, if memory served - wrapped up the interview, emerging from the interrogation room waving a stack of notes around. “They’re operating out of an old bar in Kamino, he was able to give names and quirks for everyone he worked with. Total of eight villains, after removing Muscular and Moonfish from the list.”

“See? Plenty to go on,” Muzan smirked. “I’ll let the chief know so we can pass this on to the heroes and start putting a team together.”

* * *

Izuku regained consciousness in a UA infirmary bed, placed right next to Uraraka. The others who had fought YuugenMagan with him were also in the room, though not in quite so immediate proximity. Recovery Girl made a beeline directly for him the second she realized he had regained consciousness.

“What did you think you were doing, trying to take on a demon, you idiot child!” She exclaimed, battering him around the head with her cane to no effect. “And the same one that laid you out at USJ! Think for once in your life before doing something stupid!”

“Then, Recovery Girl knows, too?” Tokoyami asked as the elderly nurse went back to tending to Shiozaki. It seemed the scorching heat had been harder on the vine-haired girl than the rest of them.

“She’s only just been brought into the fold, but yes,” replied Nedzu over the intercom. “And before Ms. Yanagi says anything, this is a private line directly to the infirmary, and Miss Shuzenji had to be informed about Midoriya and Uraraka’s circumstances as a prerequisite for treatment. She’d never allow anyone to be in her infirmary without overseeing their treatment directly, and we couldn’t let them be treated at a standard hospital because of their conditions.”

“Conditions?”

“Why, Mr. Midoriya is half-youkai, and Ms. Uraraka is a werewolf! Additionally, I am informing you of these facts over the intercom to avoid the wrath of Ms. Yanagi, who I suspect is currently attempting to see if she can use her quirk to strangle me remotely.”

Reiko wasn’t particularly subtle about it, either, as her hands clearly pantomimed strangling someone whose neck was about the same location and thickness as the rodentlike principal’s.

Tokoyami was speechless - years of his life spent searching for proof of the occult and now, in only a day or two, he both fought a demon and discovered that two of his classmates were youkai! He excitedly opened his mouth to ask-

“Once again, Tokoyami, it’s dangerous to pry into youkai matters.” Reiko stated.

“But I have so many questions! Like, what sort of youkai is Midoriya’s parent? Are Uraraka’s parents also werewolves, or did she get turned? Is demonslaying a regular occurence, or just-”

“Be quiet or I’ll kick you out of my infirmary!”

“...just a recent development,” he finished, significantly more quietly.

* * *

Tsukauchi found himself once again giving a presentation on the League of Villains to a group of heroes. As much as he wished otherwise, it was becoming an unfortunately regular occurrence. He pressed the now-familiar remote button to begin the briefing.

“As you all are no doubt aware, the League of Villains attacked a mountain retreat owned by the Wild, Wild Pussycats during a week-long Training Camp held by UA High. This attack caused numerous injuries, including the hospitalization of numerous students for inhalation of poisonous gas, the hospitalization of Tsuchikawa Ryuko, AKA Pixie-Bob, for severe injuries sustained in combat, and the tragic demise of Shiretoko Tomoko, AKA Ragdoll.”

There was a moment of silence before continuing. The discovery of the Pussycat’s body had been an incredibly sobering moment, and even worse, it hadn’t even been the worst thing to transpire that night.

“Furthermore, the League was able to abduct two UA Students during the attack.”

Pictures went up on-screen.

“Kodai Yui, of class 1-B, and Bakugou Katsuki, of 1-A. Based on testimony from one of the villains captured in the aftermath of the attack, Bakugou was specifically targeted for his aggressive nature during the Sports Festival, but we do not know why Kodai was chosen as a target yet. Regardless, the fact that she was taken alive means the League has some goal in mind, as their attack showed they have no issues with using lethal force. The good news is, this means that until they get what they’re after or decide their hostages are of no use, the kidnapped students will still be alive.”

“Do we have a target?” Death Arms asked.

“Yes we do,” the detective replied, happy to have some good news to give. “Thanks to our villain’s testimony, we know the location of their base as well as the names and quirks of everyone he interacted with. While this doesn’t rule out the possibility that there may be more villains than the ones detailed in your packets, it does give us a significant advantage. I want everyone to thoroughly review the documents you’ve been given, to minimize any nasty surprises during the operation.”

There was a murmur of assent.

“Lastly, I feel it is important to note this given recent events: The individual known as ‘Elis’ is an extremely dangerous villain whose quirk gives her significant offensive and defensive capabilities. Do _ not _ underestimate her. She should be treated with the same caution as Shigaraki or Kurogiri, even if ‘sharp claws’ don’t sound as intimidating as ‘Decay’.”

* * *

Elis grinned at the absolute bounty of power that had fallen into her lap. YuugenMagan could be fixed, restored, given enough time and effort, but even if those brats _ had _ managed to finally exterminate the stubborn demon, the amulet would have made it all worth it. Six Occult Balls, made by the single best craftsman the Outside World had to offer, joined with a magical formula on par with those of the greatest magicians to ever grace the art? Elis would have given ten allies of YuugenMagan’s caliber for the merest _ chance _ to secure such an artifact. Now, she just needed to devise her formula, to tweak and utilize the power source at her disposal for her own ends.

The Pyramids, to gather the Outside World’s occult energy.

Hell Valley, to draw upon the energies from the next world.

Stonehenge, to focus that energy.

The Nazca Lines, to channel that raw occult energy into a form usable for her enchantment.

The Tower of Babel, to give the new spell the power to stand against a god - or, a goddess.

And, finally, Yomotsu Hirasaka, gateway to Yomi, realm of the dead, the focus for her own enchantment to connect the Outside World and a target of her choosing:

The Fallen Temple, where Sariel was sealed away.

It would work. It _ had _ to work, a high school psychic with no training used the Balls to breach Gensokyo’s barrier, and Elis was an expert of Planar Magic. She just had to craft the spell and cast it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, let alone one specializing in Japanese law, so there may be some inaccuracies in my depiction of the interrogation, or the penalties levied for violation of the Firearm and Sword Possession Control Law (specifically, while I consulted a translation of the law and the penalties I mention are accurate for the violations, I'm not sure if they actually stack up like that, i.e. whether Mustard could indeed get 15 counts of violating Article 3-12 for having 15 bullets, or whether they'd all get lumped into one violation.) The denial of counsel during the interrogation is based on the description of the role of counsel in the Japanese law system given in the article Paternalism Versus Pugnacity: The Right to  
Counsel in Japan and the United States, in Volume 72, Issue 1 of the Indiana Law Journal.
> 
> Fitting his personality, Officer Muzan's name can be translated as "ruthless".


	36. End of Daylight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamino.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 13,600+ hits - they're not out of the unlucky woods yet. Really, though, since both settings I'm using here are set in Japan, it should be 4 that's unlucky.
> 
> Stage 2 theme from Story of Eastern Wonderland, the second Touhou game. You know, I've always liked this stage theme, especially the opening bit of it.

For the fifth time, Reiko let her magic flow through the runes hovering in the air around Izuku, activating the spell contained within - a spell designed to temporarily open a weak point in the barrier that separated Gensokyo from the Outside World and bend space to allow entry from any point in the world.

Izuku awkwardly cleared his throat as the spell failed to do anything for the fifth time.

“You’re sure you don’t need to do this in a different place?” Tokoyami asked. “You normally hear about people being spirited away at old shrines or something, not the middle of a school infirmary.”

“I’ve cast this spell dozens of times before, I’ve used it in a public bathroom, I’m  _ positive _ it doesn’t care where I’m using it!”

“Then maybe you can only use it on yourself, or it’s something about Midoriya? You could test it out on-”

“I’m not sending you to Gensokyo.”

“Why do we even have to use your witchcraft?” Shiozaki asked. “He’s doing fine right now.”

“He’s doing fine because he’s near Uraraka, who also has an amulet,” Reiko replied irritably. “Keeping him near her at all times is obviously impractical.”

“But we could keep him near her until he can obtain a replacement,” the vine-haired girl replied. “Given that two of our classmates have been abducted by villains, I would rather not sit and watch you cast a third into a land of demons, even if he is amenable to the idea.”

“A land of  _ youkai _ ,” Tokoyami corrected, “and kami, too, I’d imagine.”

“A land of  _ demons _ , some of whom masquerade as gods,” she asserted. “And I mean this with no offense to present company. The Lord welcomes all into his arms. Even demons can find salvation, just as even angels can fall from grace.”

“Um, guys?” Izuku interrupted, looking at his phone. “Miss Usami got back to me - she says she can get me a new amulet in about a week.”

“I suppose that settles it, then,” Reiko relented. “If it’s just a week, there’s no reason to send you to Gensokyo - provided, of course, you’re fine with that, Uraraka.”

The werewolf grinned. “Of course!”

Recovery Girl loudly cleared her throat. “If you’re quite done, I have your results. Tokoyami, Shiozaki, and Yanagi, you’re free to go. Midoriya, Uraraka, I’m keeping you an extra day for closer examination. I have no idea what sort of side effects a lack of ‘belief’ might have, or whether sharing that amulet is a bad idea, and just want to be safe.”

Before Izuku could protest, she put up a hand to silence him. “ _ Especially _ you, Midoriya! If you were an ordinary person, the beating you took would’ve kept you down for a month and you shrugged it off in less than two days! Healing quickly is no excuse for throwing yourself into danger, so just wait an extra day so I can give you the all-clear!”

* * *

“Shiozaki, may I speak to you for a moment?”

It was rare for Monoma to approach her for help with something - not because they were on bad terms (indeed, Monoma prided himself on 1-B generally having better teamwork and closer bonds than their rivals in 1-A), but because she tended not to go along with whatever tricks he had in mind, preferring to take the more straightforward and honest path whenever possible.

“What is it?”

“I, um… you were out of the lodge during the attack, weren’t you?”

Not seeing where he was going, she cautiously replied. “I… was, yes. I am aware of Kodai’s kidnapping, if that’s all this is about.”

“No! Well, yes, it is about her but…” He took a deep breath. “One of 1-A’s students, Yaoyorozu, made a tracker when she was being attacked, and Awase used his quirk to stick it to the villain that was attacking her. We know where their base is.”

“So report it to the authorities,” she stated, turning towards the elevator. It would be nice to sleep in her own bed after the events of the camp.

He grabbed her shoulder, hair shifting from blond to green and thorny. “We were planning to stage a rescue.”

A rescue? That would put them directly against the League, to say nothing of the demon the villains apparently had on their side. They had no idea what they were walking into.

Her trepidation must have shown on her face, because he continued. “Tetsutetsu’s eager for payback after that attack, and Honenuki feels like he owes it to Kodai since she got taken from under his nose. 1-A’s putting together some guys, too, since Bakugou got taken.”

That was even worse - it would be hard to dissuade whatever 1-B students had decided to join in under normal circumstances, but 1-A was involved, too. Not only that, Monoma had decided to put his one-sided rivalry aside for the purposes of joining forces. There was absolutely no way she could convince them to call the operation off, and informing the faculty of the plan would only cause them to act hastily.

But, from what Reiko had said, she might be able to fight off Elis if she went with them. She had faith God would protect his own, and, if the witch was correct, faith was all that would be needed.

“We avoid any conflict,” she said, staring straight into Monoma’s eyes. “The second things look dangerous, we fall back and let the heroes handle it. I’m  _ sure _ Yaoyorozu told them about her tracking device.”

A bit of his confident smirk returned, though it was clear his heart wasn’t in it. “What do you take me for? If I were to lead us headlong into danger, we’d be no better than 1-A.”

* * *

Discharged late the next day, Uraraka and Izuku returned to the 1-A dorm and made for Izuku’s room, the closer of the two. Bakugou’s usual friend group was gathered around the television, engaged in a weirdly chipper discussion about how he was doing while they watched Aizawa giving an interview on the situation. Strangely, Kirishima was absent.

“Did it seem weirdly quiet to you?” He finally asked, once they were in the elevator.

“Yeah,” Uraraka agreed. “Usually you’d expect Iida or someone to greet us. You don’t think he got hurt in the attack, do you?”

“I hope not - I heard something about gas being used, apparently a few of 1-B’s students got hit pretty bad by it. Would have been much worse if the rain hadn’t dispersed it, at least.”

“But the rain was caused by YuugenMagan, wasn’t it? Why would she use an attack like that when it would hinder the overall-”

She clamped her mouth shut immediately as the elevator door sprang open to someone waiting at the second floor.

“Midoriya, Uraraka, it’s good to see you both,” Tokoyami greeted. “I’m afraid we may have a situation - would you be able to speak with me in private?”

The two of them exchanged a look - if he had gone out of his way to wait for them to be discharged rather than bug Reiko, it couldn’t be good. That or he had finally realized she wasn’t going to change her mind about not teaching him magic.

Izuku ushered them into his room, shutting the door behind him and checking to make sure nobody was lingering on the balconies before closing his balcony door too.

“They’ve gone to try to rescue the kidnapped students.”

“What? Who?”

“Kirishima, Todoroki, a bunch of guys from 1-B,” Tokoyami said, voice slightly quavering. “Shiozaki’s with them, I think - I’m not sure she really understands how dangerous the situation is.”

“What!? Why didn’t Iida stop them?”

“He went with them! Said he would make sure they didn’t step out of line! They’re trying to infiltrate the League’s base and grab them without conflict!”

“What about the teachers? Why did you wait for  _ us _ ?” Uraraka hissed, a mix of anger, worry, and disbelief in her voice.

“I can’t find any of them! Aizawa’s obviously doing that interview, I don’t know where Vlad King is, and searching the campus by myself would take too long!”

“We didn’t see anyone other than Recovery Girl,” Izuku realized. “They must be making a move - using the interview as a cover to keep the League off-guard by pretending to have a slow response. We need to stop them ourselves.”

* * *

“No. Absolutely not. Tell the teachers so they can stop them.”

Tokoyami shoved his foot in the door before Reiko could close it, wedging it open.

“They don’t know what to expect - they’re going to get themselves killed,” he insisted.

“They left an hour ago,” Izuku added. “Before Uraraka or I got back to the dorms. The teachers won’t be able to find them in time, they’ve got the jump on us.”

“And we’ll be able to stop them  _ how _ , if you think the teachers won’t be able to?”

“We know where they’re going - Yaoyorozu hid a tracker on one of the villains, and while we don’t know how to locate that tracker, Tokoyami overheard Aizawa talking with Tsukauchi the other day when he was on his way back to the dorm.”

“So, again, if you know where they’re going, why do you think  _ we _ need to go, instead of the teachers?”

“Elis.”

She swore loudly and retreated into her room for barely a minute before flying out in full combat gear, nearly making it to the stairs before any of the trio realized she was expecting them to talk while they ran.

* * *

“So this is it, then? This huge warehouse here?”

“It’s a decent enough hiding place,” Monoma reasoned. “This district’s full of empty buildings - nobody’s going to look twice at them, as long as you’re careful not to be seen entering one. And judging by the state of the front door, they’re not quite stupid enough to use the front entrance.”

“The lights are off,” Kirishima pointed out.

“Yes, because when villains are meeting in secret they’re sure to turn on the floodlights so they can see every last bit of what they’re doing,” the power copier replied, rolling his eyes.

“And you were doing so well about the abrasiveness,” the redhead muttered.

“Honenuki, you have your helmet, right?”

The skull-faced boy nodded, slipping it on. “I’ll be careful, don’t worry.”

With delicate application of his quirk, only an extremely small patch of ground softened - just enough for him to swim through to make a stealthy entrance to the building.

“Geez, you really planned that better than us, huh? We don’t really have any stealthy quirks with us. Guess I don’t need this, then.”

“It’s not a bad idea to have some combatants along,” Monoma admitted. “I specifically chose Shiozaki just in case things went poorly.”

“Still, having as many combatants as we do is unacceptable for what was meant to be a stealth mission,” Iida objected a little louder than everyone would have liked. “Yaoyorozu’s the only one among us who can infiltrate, and even then she’s limited in what she can do to help.”

“What’s done is done - if you had brought some hairs along, I could have copied your classmates’ quirks, but as it is we’ll have to rely on Honenuki.”

“About that,” the student in question replied, making everyone jump a little as he slipped through the wall, “you may want to see this.”

Hesitantly, they slipped through the wall, arriving on the other side into a massive, empty floor filled with vats of some kind.

“What the hell…?”

Each one contained a musclebound figure with gray flesh and an exposed brain, floating in a state of apparent dormancy and dead to the world.

“These are like that thing that attacked us at the camp,” Awase said as loudly as he dared, his voice little more than a whisper for fear of waking the Nomu up. “These things are bad news, guys.”

“The tracking device wasn’t leading us to their base at all,” Yaoyorozu realized. “That thing wasn’t a villain, it was some sort of drone, and this is their storage hangar. I’ve done nothing but lead us into danger.”

“You couldn’t have known that,” Kirishima offered. “This is still helpful - the heroes can take out their supply of these things, make sure they can’t use them in the future. There’s still a chance-”

Monoma silenced the redhead with a loud shhh, louder than the hushed conversation had been.

“Hey, what gi- oh, shit.”

The blond was facing a small cage, barely three meters to a side, which was completely bare of furnishings and held a black-haired girl in the UA uniform, curled into the fetal position with her back to the door. Monoma realized something was wrong immediately - Kodai wasn’t the most talkative member of his class, that was a given, but even she’d respond to a rescue. 

Instead, she was nearly catatonic, barely even moving when Kirishima noisily pried the cage open. Had she been drugged? No time to worry about that, not when the Nomu all around them could become active at any moment. He moved to pick her up, and froze.

There was always a certain strange feeling when he touched someone and Copy set to work mimicking their quirk. It was how he knew it was working, even when he copied something like a stockpiling quirk that he’d be unable to use.

He didn’t feel anything when he touched her.

* * *

“Now, how do I work this…”

There was some commotion coming from downstairs, but Elis ignored it - as used as she was to it, her magic required a significant amount of focus. The slightest mistake could cause a catastrophic distortion, even more so when working with something like a sealed realm intended as a dimensional prison. It was why she preferred working with afterlives - by their nature, those realms were easy to access.

She took up the small, marble-sized Occult Balls she had pried from the amulet in one hand, mentally fumbling with her new power for a few seconds before they finally grew, rapidly enlarging to the size of crystal balls. Six full-fledged Occult Balls in one place - she could feel static on her skin from the magical energy they emanated.

Recognizing her as their master, the magical artifacts took up formation, settling into static positions around her and forming the points of a hexagram. Under ordinary circumstances, Elis detested using magic circles - they wasted precious time and effort when a few casts of a weaker spell could do the same job just as well - but this time it was unavoidable. As power swirled in the air, she cast her mind across dimensions, and began her spell.

* * *

“Okay, if they’re in there, we probably don’t have anything to worry about,” Reiko said. 

The group was currently huddled together behind a dumpster in a back alley, poking their heads out to watch as nearly a dozen Pro Heroes moved to surround an otherwise unremarkable building with the aid of the Kamino police’s Special Assault Team. From where he was crouching, Izuku could clearly identify Death Arms, Kamui Woods, Edgeshot, Endeavor, All Might himself, and a small old guy who didn’t resemble any pro he knew about, and he was sure there were more there.

“It’s gotta be a raid,” Uraraka observed. “You were right, Deku - that interview was a feint.”

“It’s possible we beat them here?” Tokoyami suggested, craning his head out slightly farther to watch as Edgeshot took a squad of troopers and led them in the back entrance while Kamui Woods made his way up to the building’s roof.

Reiko shook her head. “No way. Not when they had a one hour head start. You’re absolutely  _ sure _ this was where they were headed?”

“Yes! I heard Aizawa talking about their hideout, and I heard Yaoyorozu tell Kirishima she put a tracker on the thing she fought during the camp attack!”

“Well they’re not here, so either we went to the wrong place or  _ they _ did. We should just go home now, we can’t do anything at this point.”

“Later,” Izuku stated, enraptured as All Might leapt up and smashed a massive hole into one of the building’s upper floors. “I want to watch this.”

“I have to stay with him or he’ll fade away,” Uraraka laughed, making an overexaggerated shrug and squeezing in a little closer to him.

* * *

“It ends here, Tomura Shigaraki,” All Might declared, his ever-present confident smile wide on his face.

“‘Ends here’? ‘Ends here’?” Shigaraki laughed, a manic look in his eyes. “I’ve already started finding allies - more and more people are willing to step out of the shadows with every crack we put in the facade of ‘heroic’ society! Make no mistake, this is only the beginning… Kurogiri!”

Something like a dark needle shot across the room in an instant, piercing the misty villain’s chest. He slumped over where he stood.

Partially unfolding himself, Edgeshot fixed a meaningful gaze at the other members of the League.

“You’ll all be better off if you just take it easy,” Gran Torino warned.

“Sir! We still have one member unaccounted for!” The Special Assault Team commander reported. “We’re doing a full sweep of the building now, but given that she hasn’t engaged, it’s possible she may have already fled the scene!”

“Make sure to check everywhere,” the elderly hero replied. “No telling if they might have a hidden bolthole or something. We’ll help out once the rest of the League is taken into custody.”

“...can’t end like this.” Shigaraki muttered.

“Unfortunately, life’s not a game, kid. Lemme ask you this: where’s your boss?”

“...No, no way. Get outta here. Go to hell.”

“WHERE IS HE!?” All Might bellowed, sounding uncharacteristically angry in a way that made nearly everyone else in the room flinch.

“I HATE YOU!”

As Shigaraki roared his reply, two Nomu exploded from the air beside him, bursts of black, oily liquid heralding their arrival. Barely two seconds later, more appeared, similar bursts of liquid cascading both through the room and the streets outside as nearly thirty Nomu were deployed into the fray, springing into action.

“I don’t understand,” Edgeshot was muttering even as he folded himself to spear through an attacking Nomu, “Kurogiri’s still unconscious and Elis can only bring one person with her, they shouldn’t have anyone capable of warping on a large scale like this!”

Bakugou vomited black tar as the mysterious warp quirk grabbed him as well, quite literally slipping through All Might’s fingers as the number one hero tried in vain to stop him from being whisked away by the liquid. The members of the League, too, vanished in short order, saved by whoever was intervening on their behalf and leaving the heroes to fight Nomu. Four of the beasts dogpiled All Might during a perceived opening to little effect.

In a smooth, twisting movement, All Might threw the Nomu off of him, sending one hurtling through the floor and another one up through the roof while backhanding the other two through the bar wall and into the streets outside. He paused to look through the opening - down below, the police Special Unit was already engaged with several more of the hulking brutes, fighting them off to the best of their ability with considerable aid from the Pros and their potent quirks.

“Endeavor, can you handle these things!?”

“What sort of question is that!?” The number two hero bellowed back, blasting a Nomu with a burst of flame as he did so. “Don’t tell me you need glasses now! If you need to go, then just go! We’ve got the situation under control!”

Nodding and stifling a slight cough, All Might leapt away.

It was true the situation was containable, but it was definitely more than the heroes had expected - what was meant to be a decisive raid with overwhelming force had turned into a brutal battle in the middle of a suburban area. The sound of automatic gunfire rang through the night sky as the Special Assault Team troopers did whatever they could to stop their inhuman enemies and pros were forced to split their focus between protecting the officers and fighting the monsters, a task some managed better than others.

In the middle of the chaos, abruptly and without fanfare, the atmosphere changed. Gone was the scent of alcohol, the stink of garbage that had been left on the street, the warmth of the summer night. Instead, it was faintly cold, with a dusty smell like that of a ruin that had lain undisturbed for years. The heroes and police, preoccupied with fighting off their attackers, didn’t notice, but to the group hiding in the shadows nearby, the change was all too ominous.

“What just happened?” Uraraka asked, her voice threatening to rise above a whisper and blow their cover.

“I… I don’t know,” Reiko whispered. “Something  _ bad _ . I’ve got half a dozen magical runes sewn into my costume to detect when space is being messed with, and that just set all of them off. Whatever it is, it’s not permanent - not yet. Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be going off. Someone’s actively maintaining this, at least right now.”

“Elis.”

It started subtly - a faint shimmer in the air that could have been mistaken as a heat haze from Endeavor’s attacks if not for the fact that the hero was at least a dozen meters away. The most experienced pros in the crowd - people like Endeavor, Gran Torino, and Edgeshot - noticed something was wrong only an instant before it exploded into full form, six massive, shadowy wings unfurling to their full span and framing a humanoid silhouette. Seemingly depthless and two-dimensional, defying all light, the limbs nonetheless proved to be extremely deadly, cutting through pavement, Nomu, and Human alike without difficulty.

Death Arms barely avoided losing an arm to the attack, reeling back just in time for one of the wings to whip past him, leaving no wind to indicate it was even tangible.

“Hey, watch the friendly fire!”

“Nobody with the raid has that kind of quirk,” Edgeshot was quick to point out, leaping back to give himself more time to react to any further attacks from the anomaly now that he had a better guess of how fast and far it could strike.

With a gesture from the indistinct humanoid, the cries and moans of the wounded stopped all too suddenly as everyone injured by its initial attack simply fell limp and lifeless. Then, slowly, the void began to contract, shrinking and becoming more defined, gaining depth to it as limbs began to make themselves known among what was formerly a seemingly two-dimensional shape. The swirling nothingness the entity had originally been composed of seemed to fade away, the vortex of shimmering purple giving way to a humanoid - no,  _ angelic _ \- form.

They were clad in a simple blue robe, with white sleeves, its only ornamentation a shield-like white emblem in the center of the outfit. Six massive white feathered wings, each one nearly the size of Izuku, spread from the figure’s back, stretching to their full span as though they were testing their range of motion after so long spent without physical form. As they did so, the figure turned its head to take in the gathered crowd. It was impossible to tell what they were thinking - calmly closed eyes sat above a faint smile, framed by long bluish-white hair that fell nearly to their ankles.

As one bare foot touched down on the street, all sound stopped. The muttered deliberation of heroes, the chatter of civilians rubbernecking from the windows, even the distant sounds of traffic all seemed to die out and give way to an oppressive silence. When the other foot touched the ground, power failed - lights flickered and died, leaving the block illuminated only by the dim light of the moon.

Sariel had been restored.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I'm no guardian angel!  
Little one, are you ready to die?"  
-T. Stebbins, _No Guardian Angel_


	37. Power of Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kamino, continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap that was a lot of hits since last week - seriously, that was nearly 800 new hits!
> 
> Chapter name is Meira's theme from Touhou 2. Funny enough, follows straight on from End of Daylight last chapter - that wasn't actually planned out, I did intend to use these titles but I swapped the order I used them in.

Sariel’s entrance had stunned all onlookers - even the most experienced heroes among the group had to take a few seconds to process what had just happened. Sariel, for their part, had absolutely no hesitation. Calmly, they began to walk forwards, taking care not to disturb any of the bodies that were now strewn around the area.

Their advance finally shocked the police forces out of their stupor, and the nearest trooper raised their weapon, aiming their MP5 directly at the demon’s head. The other Special Unit survivors followed suit, surrounding Sariel with a ring of automatic weapons.

“Don’t move! Don’t fucking take one more step or I’ll blow your brains all over the block! I’m warning you!”

The Angel of Death didn’t break stride. What followed was a hail of automatic gunfire, a display of force that would have, under normal circumstances, gotten the entire unit written up for the sheer volume of fire they laid down in a residential area.

* * *

Elis grit her teeth as she spotted the connection fraying in yet another location, forcing more magic through the Occult Balls to restore it. Shinki’s work was even more masterful than she had expected, an expertly woven barrier that was beyond any she had ever seen before. Without the Occult Balls, she could have never even dreamed of breaching it. Even with the Occult Balls, it felt almost impossible, even as each new thread of reality snapped into place.

She paused for a moment to simply breathe and take in the comforting aura of overwhelming power. At least there was no risk of any distractions now that Sariel had taken the field. How could mortals fight Mortality, after all?

Turning her attention back to her spell, Elis spotted yet another incompatibility between the two realities threatening to tear the whole thing apart. Cursing, she set about bolstering the spell so it would hold while she figured out how to magic the error into submission.

* * *

Tokoyami gaped at the scene in vacant horror for a long moment before finally finding his voice.

“What,” he swallowed. “What the hell is that thing?”

“In all likelihood, Sariel,” Izuku said, his voice near a whisper.

“The Firstborn of Makai you were tasked with stopping? The demon that even a Goddess couldn’t destroy?”

“That’s it, then,” Uraraka declared. “We’ve lost - we can’t stop them, we barely survived YuugenMagan and we don’t even know where Elis is!”

“Likely lurking in the shadows like the opportunist she is,” Tokoyami muttered. “Even if we did have some way to take Sariel on, she would just stroll out and finish us off before we could even catch our breath.”

“...still messing with space,” Reiko muttered, a hand pressed to her temple.

“What?”

“She’s still messing with space!” the magician practically shouted. “My runes haven’t stopped going off, they’re constantly ringing in my ears!”

“Well, that answers what Elis is up to,” Izuku said. “Not that that helps us much while Sariel is…”

“While Sariel is what?” Uraraka wondered.

“...while she’s summoned,” Izuku realized. “Reiko said it herself earlier - whatever this is, if Elis is still maintaining it, it’s not permanent!”

The werewolf’s eyes widened. “Then it’s not too late! If we can find her and interrupt what she’s doing, then Sariel will be sealed away again!”

Growling, Reiko tore the hem of her sleeve, causing a small spark of magic as a rune was torn in half. She repeated the process three more times in other parts of her robe before sighing in relief.

“Had to shut those things up. The plan’s risky, but more importantly, it’s sound, and it’s the only hope we’ve got.”

“We need to get into the building,” Izuku decided. “The League wouldn’t have left civilians around - too much risk of discovery - and Elis wouldn’t have chosen a location where Sariel couldn’t protect her, so she has to be inside the area.”

* * *

“Heads down and watch for stray bullets!” Gran Torino barked out, ready to boost aside to dodge any wayward projectile at a moment’s notice. “Damn fools are panicking!”

The warning was ultimately unnecessary - rather than continuing their intended paths, the bullets clattered uselessly to the ground around Sariel without any effect on the demon. One of the troopers faltered, realizing the futility of their attack, and Sariel struck.

The demon exploded into motion, shooting from victim to victim, stopping for only the barest of instants between targets. As they swept through the troopers like a gale force wind, bodies crumpled to the ground in their wake. In no time at all, only a single trooper remained, frantically running for the hopeful safety of the pro heroes. Just as Sariel was about to finish them off, branches came to their rescue, Kamui Woods’s protective grasp wrapping around the poor officer and dragging him to safety while the demon was tightly clasped in wooden binds.

The respite was brief, however - the moment Kamui Woods’ branches wrapped around the angelic demon, life faded from them, plant matter withering at a terrifying rate as dieback raced up the hero’s extended limb. His eyes widened as he realized the danger he was in, helpless to stop the deadly affliction as it approached his body.

Both a blessing and a curse, a blaze of orange filled Kamui’s vision and turned his world into utter agony as Endeavor bathed him in flame. He fell to the ground writhing in pain as Death Arms ran to his side to stamp the fires out. He couldn’t feel his arm.

“Endeavor! What the hell are you-”

The Punching Hero was cut off by a derisive snort from the number two. “I did what I had to. If you had been more  _ observant _ , you may have come to the same conclusion.”

“That thing seems to kill you on contact,” Gran Torino clarified. “Maybe because of the plant matter, or because of the range involved, but there was a window of time to save Kamui, and it came down to either his arm, or his life.”

Edgeshot gave a slight bow of apology towards the elderly hero. “I apologize for acting hastily and forcing you to intervene on my behalf.”

The old man ignored him. “Thing’s one of the nastier quirks I’ve seen in my lifetime - usually these contact quirks are limited to fingertips, but this thing can trigger off of  _ any _ contact. You’re the only one here capable of fighting that.”

Stepping forward and unleashing a blast of fire towards Sariel, Endeavor grunted back, “Then use obstacles or something. I can’t be the only one contributing here against something this dangerous.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice, sonny. Just wanted to make sure you realized the rest of us have to jump through hoops here.”

As the flames faded, Sariel turned their full attention towards Endeavor, swooping towards him with the same inhuman speed they had displayed when slaughtering the special unit. Caught off-guard, he hastily backpedaled, misplacing a foot, stumbling, and falling. Somehow, impossibly, miraculously, the demon stopped.

Suddenly, their head snapped to the side. Endeavor was baffled - Gran Torino had leapt into action to try to provide a distraction for him, but that didn’t explain the strength of the reaction. That was a quick movement, the reflex of someone caught by surprise. And it seemed to lose track of him when he had fallen backwards...

“...it can’t get too far from the building,” Endeavor realized. “Pull the perimeter back! This thing is some kind of defensive quirk, it’s limited to an area!”

“Warn them to avoid engaging this thing,” Edgeshot added as Tsukauchi relayed the instructions through a megaphone. “So far, beyond the initial appearance, it’s only attacked those who attacked it first.”

“Is that the best plan?” Death Arms wondered.

“We haven’t been able to do anything except piss this thing off,” Endeavor replied.

* * *

All For One’s breaths came labored and heavy. This wasn’t good - he had been preparing for this fight, gathering all the quirks he needed to counter the number one hero’s brute force, and his effort was coming to naught. What good was his destructive force if he couldn’t connect? His limbs felt sluggish, responding just a little too slowly, and while he would still be far more than capable of defeating any ordinary hero, against the Symbol of Peace who had beaten him once before, it wasn’t good enough.

Seeing a rare opening from All Might, he reached out with his entanglement quirk, seizing the hero’s legs

“Not so fast.”

All Might stood back up, wiping a bit of blood from his mouth, and deftly dodged the next strike, landing a clean hit across the villain’s jaw in response. It was weaker than expected.

* * *

“Sir, we’ve finished pulling back!” The trooper who reported the news didn’t have any special rank insignia - the Special Unit’s commander had been one of the victims of the opening strike. “All civilians were evacuated prior to the raid - there should only be villains left inside the perimeter!”

Endeavor nodded grimly. Prominence Burn was a last resort, an unquestionably lethal attack that had never once failed to vaporize its target the few times he had been forced to use it. With over two dozen casualties and an enemy too dangerous to even approach, there was no longer any other option.

Hellflame flared around him as he built up heat to launch the devastating attack.

A brief flash of movement in the ruined bar caught his eye. He froze.

“Is… is that Midoriya?” Kamui Woods rasped. He had finally dragged himself into a sitting position, against the protests of the medic attending to him.

“Midori…” Tsukauchi muttered, just a moment before his eyes widened in a mixture of realization and horror. “There’s kids in there!”

Turning towards the building and the gaping hole the heroes’ assault had left in it, Sariel took flight, their massive wings beating just once in unison to propel them into the air.

* * *

All For One’s head was beginning to spin, but surely All Might was wearing thin, too - his attacks had been growing weaker and weaker as the fight went on. He saw another opening - a woman, pinned under rubble. Somehow, she was like a beacon to him - brilliant, radiant, noticeable. His arm bulging, he sent an air blast her way.

As the smoke cleared, to his satisfaction, he saw All Might’s true form bared to the world. Pausing for a moment to try to clear his head and get the world to stop swimming, he began a monologue.

“Look at that - that ragged, skeletal form! That’s the  _ true _ face of your number one hero!”

All Might’s response was strangely muted - All For One couldn’t hear a single word of it, but the hero’s gestures got the idea across well enough. The Hero stubbornly refused to break.

“You’re like a stubborn child…” he panted. “Maybe this will break that spirit of yours, though? Shigaraki Tomura is Shimura Nana’s grandson.”

All Might’s shock and despair was so strongly apparent on his face that All For One would have sworn he could taste it. He twisted the knife, somehow feeling more energetic as he did so.

“And he’s  _ hated _ you this whole time. Every last encounter between you two, so carefully engineered by me, has ended with you defeating him soundly, grinning confidently in spite of your total ignorance.”

“You’re… you’re lying.”

“What’s the matter, All Might? Where’s that winning smile of yours? Or did I manage to steal that away, too, now?”

He paused as the world, seen through his infrared vision quirk in the absence of his eyes, disappeared briefly. When it returned, predictably, like a cliche out of some comic, All Might’s arm bulged, some flickering ember of his power still remaining after the drawn out battle.

“Very well. We’ll put everything into one last punch.”

Gathering his quirks to him, he carefully put together the combination he had spent weeks optimizing - springlike limbs, multiple kinetic boosters, multiple strength enhancers, a strength multiplier, hyper- the world swam. For a moment, his senses flickered out entirely, and his quirks slipped from his grasp at the crucial moment.

All Might’s bellow went only half-heard by the villain’s ears, as though the two of them were both underwater.

“-NIT-- ----ES OF SMA--!”

Like a divine force, All Might’s final attack slammed into him with the strength of a meteor impact, kicking dust up in a tremendous geyser.

All For One blinked. Once again, he found himself standing on a desolate shore of gray sand. Behind him was a field of red spider lilies, and ahead of him was a massive river, vastly deep and unfathomably wide, mist clinging to its surface so heavily he couldn’t see the other side. Just as with his last visit to this place, there was a boat waiting at the shore, but no ferryman in sight. Taking a moment to indulge himself, he remembered his first visit to this place.

_ All For One shot bolt upright like he had just been catapulted from a nightmare. All Might had overcome his defense, defeated all his underlings, and come for him. Despite tearing a hole in the hero’s side, despite repeated strikes to the hero’s exposed organs, despite the most lethal quirk combinations he had available at that moment, the wielder of One For All had refused to stay down and eventually caved in his skull with a punch. Of that, the centuries-old villain was certain: he was dead. _

_ A single boat stood abandoned, beached on the shoreline with no trace of a ferryman. He tilted his head at the sight - he wasn’t familiar with beliefs about the afterlife, but he was fairly certain the boats usually had crews. _

_ “Am I supposed to ferry myself across?” _

** _I would not advise it. Why pass on before you have to?_ **

_ He hadn’t expected an answer to his question. He whirled, trying to find the one speaking to him. They continued, heedless of his confusion. _

** _The ferrywoman likes to slack._ **

_ “Who are you?” _

** _An ally, if you wish._ **

_ He scoffed. “What good will an ally do me when I’m about to be reincarnated?” _

_ Somehow, he felt the voice smile in his mind. _

** _None, if you intend to take the ferry._ **

_ “...And the other option?” _

** _When you return to life, one of my servants will come to you for aid._ **

_ “‘When’?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “Not ‘if’?” _

** _Turn and walk away from the shore. My power will handle the rest._ **

For the second time in his existence, All For One turned away from the bank of the Sanzu and returned to the world of the living.

As he was being loaded into an armored transport, firmly straightjacketed and unable to move a muscle, he took a deep breath and smiled despite himself. Somehow, despite having just been revealed on national television, despite being beaten, despite being thrown into prison, the air felt sweeter to him than it had in years.

* * *

Sariel landed gracefully and almost delicately, their wings slowly easing themselves onto the floor as though they were worried the structure wouldn’t support their weight. A chill ran down Izuku’s spine as they turned their head towards him.

** _Midoriya Izuku._ **

He tensed up - the demon’s voice was powerful, commanding, yet devoid of any trace of malice.

** _Why do you interfere? This has nothing to do with you._ **

Memories flashed through Izuku’s head - news reports of nearly a dozen dead at Mongaza Prison, Uraraka dying in a hospital bed, his friends’ close brush with death in the middle of a burning clearing. 

“You should know what your servant’s done.”

** _Then you would fight me? To stop Elis?_ **

Sariel spread their wings out dramatically and began to slowly advance.

** _How tragic, to die so young._ **

Just then, a massive wave of fire engulfed the demon, filling Izuku’s vision with nothing but brilliant orange. The flames raged on for nearly fifteen full seconds before they slowly died down to reveal the muscular form of Death Arms, grunting as he held a chunk of concrete aloft as a makeshift shield - a shield that was very necessary, as one of the demon’s wings had come down like an executioner’s axe in a deadly arc stopped only by the rubble.

“Kid,” he grunted, sweat dripping from his brow, “You’ve really gotta do something about this bad habit of yours.”

Struck dumb by the hero’s intervention, Izuku could only manage a nod in response before hurrying away to continue his search for Elis.

Sariel withdrew their wings and folded them back into their resting position, their face betraying no emotion whatsoever. It was more akin to a death mask with a fixed expression than something that belonged to a living creature.

** _Stand aside._ **

“Afraid I can’t do that,” Death Arms growled as he took a step back.

Winding up, he hurled the concrete fragment with all the force he could muster - with his quirk granting him strength on par with industrial machinery, the concrete was the equivalent of an artillery shell being fired at point-blank range.

Calmly, Sariel raised a hand to block the incoming projectile. At the merest brush of their fingers, the hunk of concrete came to a dead stop, falling uselessly to the ground at their feet.

** _Surely you don’t think you can win._ **

The Punching Hero didn’t respond, simply reaching to the side to tear another chunk out of the wall.

** _So be it._ **

A brief tensing of Sariel’s wings was all the warning Death Arms got before the demon shot towards him like a rocket, striking him across the chest with a wing on their way past.

His lifeless body crumpled to the floor.

* * *

Izuku was frantic - there was no way Death Arms could hold out for long, and he doubted the hero would leave before he was confirmed to be safe, but Elis had to be stopped. Another set of walls evaporated under his Ability, and another set of newly-opened rooms revealed their total lack of occupants. The longer this went on, the closer they drew to Elis’s victory and Sariel’s release. 

As he ran for the stairs to check the next floor, a sound behind him drew his attention, and he looked back to see Sariel striding calmly after him. Structural stability be damned, he needed to escape  _ now _ . Using his Ability, he opened a hole in the floor. At that very same instant, the Angel of Death flapped their six wings once, shooting for him like a comet. Before he could even fall more than an inch, he felt a hand close around his neck.

Izuku’s world went dark.

* * *

Elis had to stifle a hysterical giggle as she finally admitted what she had been denying all along - Shinki had outmatched her. There was no way she could merge the Fallen Temple into the Outside World, even backed by the power of six Occult Balls. The Temple’s very nature objected to existing as part of another dimension, making the planar merge she was attempting impossible. It was only due to the raw power that she was able to even maintain it as long as she had. The only course of action, then, was to close the overlay and figure out what to do about that problem.

Her eyes widened in terror as the wall across the room from her collapsed, allowing ghostly blue light to pour into the room. It was still too early!

Eyes blazing with determination, Reiko lifted one hand, ringed by a formation of three glowing magic circles, and invoked her spell.

“ Afterlife Sign: Three Crossings ”

“You moron, the overlay is still unstable! If you interrupt me now, it’ll-”

Three beams of concentrated magical power shot forth from the magic circles and directly at the demonic magician - aimed at her heart, her head, and her stomach. Frantic, she flung herself to the side in an attempt to dodge that barely succeeded - the searing energy lanced through her shoulder and tore a hole in the side of her abdomen, but she had avoided a lethal hit. However, in her haste to dodge, she hadn’t considered where the beams would be going.

The final laser, aimed for her head, continued on its path and pierced directly through one of the hovering Occult Balls, carried into the attack by Elis’s hasty movement as it dutifully continued to orbit its master.

Its crystalline structure ruined, the mixture of occult energy and planar magic being channeled was too much for the artifact to bear, and it failed catastrophically, exploding in a burst of raw power that set off a chain reaction in the formation. In turn, the five remaining Occult Balls, damaged by the explosion, failed as well, leaving Elis at the heart of a cataclysmic detonation.

With its caster gone and its foci destroyed, the demon’s spell now ran completely out of control, and without guidance, space cracked and distorted, warring with reality itself before reality violently reasserted itself, everything snapping back in a single destructive instant. The entire structure, abused far beyond anything its engineers had ever considered might happen, collapsed into a heap of rubble.

* * *

Rescue efforts began almost immediately, the uninjured heroes leaping into action to begin picking through the rubble in search of survivors. It was a long, laborious process, and no assistance was forthcoming - apparently, there had been another, more wide-reaching battle barely a few kilometers away, and the emergency responders were better used there due to the sheer amount of devastation.

It took half an hour to find all the survivors in the wreckage, and another full hour to be absolutely sure nobody had been missed. Uraraka Ochako, Tokoyami Fumikage, and Yanagi Reiko were all retrieved from the rubble and transferred to the nearest hospital for proper treatment.

The body of Death Arms was retrieved from the building and given to his family for a proper burial, along with a formal government commendation and a significant payment on account of his life saving actions.

No other individuals or bodies were found in the wreckage of the League’s hideout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reiko's Afterlife Sign: Three Crossings is named for the Sanzu, the Styx analogue of Buddhist cosmology. It is known as the River of Three Crossings because you take one of three paths across the river based on how good you were in life. Touhou's version of the Sanzu is significantly different, having a Styx-style ferryman who carries you across. Komachi is the only one who can do the job, since the (Touhou) Sanzu is supposed to be wide according to the number of your sins and deep according to the severity, and she's the only Shinigami they got with Distance manipulation. Ultimate job security.


	38. World of Broken Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dust settles after Kamino.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS AN APPEARANCE BY A CHARACTER WHO HAS NOT YET APPEARED IN THE HERO ACADEMIA ANIME. POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING APPLIES.
> 
> 15140 hits broken, geez.
> 
> Chapter title is the Stage 3 theme of Story of Eastern Wonderland, the second touhou game. As mentioned last time, I didn't plan it as a Stage 2-2nd Boss-Stage 3 sequence, it just ended up that way after I switched two chapter titles.

“-neither the police nor the Hero Public Safety Commission have identified either of the villains responsible yet, but-”

Nezu shut the television off.

“Eraserhead wanted to expel you all, and I’m inclined to agree.”

“We had to-” Reiko began.

“Nearly throw your lives away against a threat that killed nearly two dozen police officers, twenty Nomu, and a Pro Hero?”

“If Sariel had been allowed to enter our world, the damage would have been unthinkable,” she defended. “Nobody there could even slow them down.”

“Regardless, you’ve placed me in an extremely difficult position,” Nezu replied. “Heroes don’t control the news, as much as some of the more scandal-prone Pros might wish otherwise. I can only hide the fact of Midoriya’s demise - and your involvement in his ill-fated plan - for so long.”

“We don’t know he’s-”

“He was in the building with an entity that you described as the physical manifestation of the concept of Mortality, which effortlessly killed everything it went up against and was last seen in pursuit of him. In the continued absence of any evidence of his survival, I unfortunately have to assume the worst.”

Tokoyami broke his silence. “And if we could bring him back?”

Nezu quirked an eyebrow. 

The bird-headed boy continued, “The Kojiki recounts the story of Izanagi’s descent into Yomi-no-kuni to retrieve his wife Izanami. We could unseal the entrance at Yomotsu-Hirasaka in Izumo and venture there to retrieve him.”

“That story ends with Izanagi fleeing after discovering Izanami has become a rotting corpse, and Izanami swearing revenge on the living,” Nezu pointed out.

“...If there’s a chance we can save him,” Uraraka said quietly, finally breaking her silence, “I’ll try anything.”

“It won’t work,” Reiko stated.

Uraraka’s hands balled into fists, blood dripping from between her fingers as her claws punctured her palms. “We have to try!”

“Of course we do,” the magician replied. “As a Youkai, he won’t be going to Yomi. He’ll cross the Sanzu, be judged, and then sent to either Heaven, Hell, or the Netherworld. All of those locations can be reached through Gensokyo.”

“I’m going too,” Tokoyami tried.

“Of course you will. Uraraka can protect you.”

“I’m knowledgeable enough about folklore to watch myself and I’ll- wait, what?”

“You know more about folklore than Uraraka, which makes you more suited to navigating and hopefully keeping the two of you out of trouble. I won’t be visiting the Sanzu with you two,” Reiko stated. “I’m going to be trying something my master’s wanted to teach me for a long time.”

Nezu poured himself a cup of tea slowly and deliberately. “The sensible part of me is screaming that the risk of losing three more students is an unacceptable one - it would likely spell the end of UA if you failed to return.”

He took a long sip, then let out a shuddering sigh, as if he couldn’t believe he was about to do this. “Go, before I change my mind about this.”

As they quickly left the room, he turned the television back on. The news was currently speculating on the mysterious villain at the bar, a blurry picture of Sariel decorating the upper right corner of the report. 

Nezu hoped he wouldn’t have to expel the group - he needed people who could fight youkai now more than ever. If Midoriya and Yanagi were any indication, there could be dozens of other youkai in hiding in the outside world, waiting for their opening.

An opening that thirty seconds of shaky cell-phone footage had just broadcast to the world.

* * *

Chisaki Kai, better known to his yakuza underlings as Overhaul, gazed out across the Tokyo skyline through golden eyes. He  _ hated _ the wretched sight - teeming masses of mankind, concentrated in a single nexus of filth and disease. He unconsciously fiddled with his beaklike mask, ensuring it was properly fastened and filtering the air he breathed.

“I’m sorry,” he said at last, not bothering to turn away from the window. “Could you repeat that?”

The yakuza underling, also wearing a mask, complied. “There was some huge Hero raid in Kamino just last night - some crazy powerful villain got into a fight with All Might and he had to use all his power to take him down. The Symbol of Peace is gone! Every Villain out there is making their move!”

“...I see. And you didn't see fit to inform me of this at the time  _ why _ , exactly?” His hands twitched irritably - it would be so easy to tear his gloves off, to kill this fool with a single touch.

Panicked, the lackey shot a glance to Overhaul’s second-in-command - swaddled in a robe of brilliant, pure-white feathers, she almost gave the impression of an owl, perched and observing its prey from a fuzzy armchair. Her red eyes betrayed no trace of the sympathy he was hoping for.

“Y- you and Lady Eri were testing the newest formula! I didn't want to disturb you!” Fear and desperation were creeping into the underling’s voice, but the man didn’t run - he knew too well that running would only worsen the situation.

Overhaul let out an exasperated sigh. “In the future, if something that important happens, I am to be informed as soon as humanly possible. Is that understood?”

There was no response - the lackey was absolutely petrified.

Overhaul repeated his question, anger seeping into his voice. “Is. That. Understood?”

“Y- yes, sir. Of course, sir.”

“Good. You’ll be drawing any blood we need this week.”

The man's knees began to shake “P- please, I-”

Overhaul whirled on his lackey with inhuman speed, fury in his eyes. The poor man immediately clamped his mouth shut. “Is there a problem with my decision?”

The Yakuza underling shook his head frantically. “N- no, Master Kai, it's very generous!”

“If you’re gentle enough to survive the whole week, I'll see about installing you permanently in that role, along with a raise. Now get out of my sight.”

The hapless henchman beat a hasty retreat from the office, slamming the door behind him in his carelessness. Overhaul’s eye twitched at the sound. He made a note to himself to have the door checked for damage - he  _ would _ have the man punished if there was any, but the lackey wouldn’t last the week.

Breaking her silence at last, Overhaul’s second-in-command started giggling at the whole incident, the clumsy exit and the yakuza boss’s muted reaction finally sending her over the edge.

“Is there something funny, Eri?”

“You would’ve killed him if he had burst in last night,” she snickered.

“Of course,” Overhaul replied dismissively. “That was the first time we’ve been able to trigger the reaction.”

“I wish he wasn’t gonna be drawing my blood, though,” She pouted. “He’ll be trembling the whole time - it’ll hurt.”

“You can erase him the moment it hurts,” he reassured her. “And soon enough, we won’t need to draw your blood any more. Soon we can fix this world."

* * *

Tsukauchi nervously shifted in place. It was bad enough having to tell a parent their child was missing - never something you wanted to have to do - but when you were one of the last ones to see the kid before their disappearance, it was even worse.

It was a good thing he was in the know about Gensokyo, he supposed - secrecy or not, Mrs. Midoriya had a right to know what her child had been involved in.

Finally screwing up his courage, he rang the doorbell.

“Mrs. Midoriya?”

No answer. After a few moments, he rang again.

“Mrs. Midoriya!”

Still nothing. Something didn’t feel right to him. He tried the door - it was unlocked. It swung quietly open, admitting him into the Midoriya residence.

“Hello?” He called out, shutting the door behind him. “Is anyone home?”

Mrs. Midoriya’s shoes were still there, he noted, so she probably hadn’t left. The kitchen was neat and tidy with the exception of a cup of green tea left on the counter - cold, so it hadn’t been poured recently - and a teapot left on the stove, also long since cooled down. Nothing else seemed to be out of place.

Moving on to the living room, he found it similarly clean. A bottle of sake had been left in front of the kamidana as an offering - strangely, the altar was dedicated to Futatsuiwa Daimyoujin rather than any local deity.

_ Did she know who her husband was? _

A book by Lafcadio Hearn had been left on the table, but it didn’t seem to be particularly relevant - it was closed, had no bookmark, and a cursory look through the pages revealed them to be unmarred.

Finding no other clues, he moved on to the upper floors, not expecting much. Izuku’s bedroom was as neat and tidy as any other room in the house, though the shelves were relatively barren and the walls had several places that a poster had clearly been removed from. It wasn’t theft, though - not with how pristine the rest of the house was. Undoubtedly, the younger Midoriya had simply taken his decorations with him when he moved into the dorm.

Inko’s bedroom, too, held few clues as to what had happened to her, though it confirmed one particular thing - her keys, purse, and other personal belongings were all still present, and her bed had been neatly tucked back in. There was no way she had left the house of her own accord, not without anyone reporting a shoeless woman making her way out of town.

He dialed Nezu’s number.

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry if I’ve interrupted you, Principal, but something concerning may have just come up.”

“I’m listening,” UA’s principal replied.

“I believe Midoriya Inko has been spirited away.”

* * *

“And soon, brothers and sisters, our savior will descend!”

Kizuki Chitose shuffled slightly in the back of the crowded warehouse, adjusting the weight on her feet. The gathering was far more crowded than the blue-skinned reporter had anticipated - she knew that the Church of the Winged Void was gathering followers quickly, but they seemed to have exploded in the barely 24 hours it had been since the incident at Kamino. The building was packed, and some of the zealots towards the front had even folded their chairs up to let just a few more of the cult’s followers squeeze into the building.

She narrowed her eyes at the lunatic standing on the ramshackle stage, pacing around on the uneven floor provided by a dozen boxes of slightly different sizes that had been hastily pushed together. He was a gaunt man, with stringy black hair and dark bags under his eyes that gave him the impression of a skeleton, or perhaps a mummified corpse. On what little of his arms extended from under his black robe, she could see deep scarring running down his forearm, like it had split open at one point.

“We have suffered! Been scorned! Society looks down on us, treats us like worthless insects because we were born with quirks that punish us!”

A roar went up from the crowd. She was fairly sure one of the people ahead of her had a bomb for a head.

“We have had to live our entire existences in a state of careful control, always worrying that the slightest slip-up might cause us grievous injury!”

Another roar. She wasn’t sure if they were cheering or expressing anger. Probably a mix of both.

“But, in our pain, we find strength! In our suffering, we find resilience! We have been gifted, brothers and sisters, granted our quirks as a trial by the Winged Void itself!”

This time, it was unmistakable - a resounding cheer went up from the audience.

“We have been blessed! We know our savior to be true! We know our savior to be powerful! We know our savior to be kind!”

Surreptitiously, she snapped a picture of the man on the stage - one of the cult’s higher-ups, of that she was sure.

“Kamino was a sign! The Winged Void’s arrival is close at hand! And when they enter the world, we will be rewarded for our faith!”

Unconsciously, a gasp escaped her lips as one of the cultists in the crowd chucked a lit torch onto the stage of boxes. Quickly, the fire spread to his robes, but the zealot continued to speak.

“Behold! The proof of my devotion! The reward for my faith! Though the fire licks at me and tears at my flesh, I yet live! And through my pain, the Winged Void is glorified!”

The crowd went absolutely wild - cheers, hoots, and hollers went up from the gathered cultists. Next to her, one of them activated his quirk, driving a line of jagged, serrated spikes out of his back with a yelp of pain as those nearby applauded his show of self-injury.

Kizuki slipped out the back door.

* * *

Securely back in her car, Kizuki Chitose took a breath to calm herself before attaching the image she had taken to an email and sending it to one of her comrades. After a few moments, she got a phone call.

Picking up, she was greeted by the voice of Trumpet, one of the other officers of the Meta Liberation Front.

“Curious, who is this?”

“One of the leaders of the Winged Void, I believe,” she replied. “I was wondering if you could identify him for me.”

“Give me just a moment,” he stated.

She jotted down some notes about the gathering as she waited for his reply.

“Kaikizu Kuroushin,” Trumpet reported. “Thirty-six years old. He has a number of convictions for public quirk usage and an extensive history of hospital visits.”

“Public quirk usage?” She wondered. “We haven’t tried to recruit him?”

“His quirk is telekinetic control of bones. His  _ own _ bones. He doesn’t have any accelerated healing or pain resistance to go with this - nearly removed his own arm by accident at age 6, and he’s described it as ‘excruciating’ to use.”

“Ah.”

That explained it - few members of the Meta Liberation Army would try to recruit somebody with such a detrimental quirk. An unfortunate blind spot, it seemed.

“The group’s growth has been incredibly fast,” she stated. “We may need to keep a closer eye on them. They won’t stand up to our soldiers in a fight, but…”

“You’re worried their numbers will pose an issue of its own,” Trumpet replied.

“More than that, if they continue to grow, they could eat into our own recruitment.”

“We don’t overlap - they go for people with weak quirks. Worthless quirks. We could barely use them even if we did get them.”

“You’ve been talking to Geten too much,” Curious huffed.

* * *

The bank of the Sanzu was a dreary place, in distinct contrast to the road leading up to it - the path there had been lined with various stalls full of the recently deceased hawking their wares to travelers in the hopes of getting more money to bribe the ferryman, or possibly just as a way to pass the time while waiting for their turn. Uraraka, possessed of a single-minded determination, had had to pull Tokoyami away from nearly a dozen stalls as he was nearly suckered into purchasing every remotely-supernatural item they had on sale.

But now at the bank, she could see that her haste was perhaps unnecessary - at least a hundred souls were idling around, the faint balls of spectral fire simply floating in the air in a loose group vaguely gathered around a beached rowboat. Inside the boat, a red-haired girl in an elaborate blue-and-white dress was noisily snoring away in total defiance of any popular conception of a grim, dutiful ferryman.

“Do you think that’s her?”

“I have no idea,” Tokoyami replied. “The myths never say anything about a ferrywoman for the Sanzu.”

Uraraka went and poked the snoring shinigami. “Excuse me?”

Komachi continued merrily snoozing.

Another poke. “Excuse me!”

A brief pause gave Tokoyami hope before the snoring grew even louder.

Uraraka, on the other hand, crossed her arms. “I saw you crack your eye open slightly.”

Komachi groaned and sat up. “Ugh,  _ fine. _ Whaddaya want? I’m on break.”

“I… wasn’t aware shinigami had breaks,” Tokoyami stated.

“We’re looking for someone and were wondering if you had seen him - he’s got green, messy hair and freckles.”

“Well, you’re free to look through the hitodama and see if you can find him. I’m gonna catch some Zs.”

“We can’t tell who they were in life.”

“Not my problem. You can say your farewells at their grave, can’t you? Why do you need to find ‘em so bad? They owe you money?”

“We were hoping to rev-” Uraraka clamped a hand firmly over Tokoyami’s mouth.

“Review the shape of his hitodama flame!” she offered. “We’ve been, uh, studying what souls look like and-”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Komachi asked, beginning to lean back in her beached boat. “Were you seriously just gonna ask a Shinigami about someone’s soul so you could revive them?”

“...yes,” Tokoyami admitted past Uraraka’s hand.

“Alright, lemme see what I can do,” the shinigami replied, grabbing a ledger from her side and flipping through it. “Name?”

“Wait, you’re gonna help us just like that?”

“If I let you guys walk off and revive him, that means I have to ferry him at a later date, which means I don’t have to ferry him right now, which means less work. So what’s his name?”

* * *

Sakimukuro Oowani was a small-time villain, leader of his own gang, and, courtesy of his quirk, a musclebound behemoth of a man that resembled a crocodilian counterpart to Gang Orca. He stood head and shoulders above nearly everyone he encountered, which was why most people tended to run the moment he showed his pointed teeth. Moreso when he had three of his beefiest thugs with him.

The woman lying in the middle of the alley, then, was either stupid, or too injured to notice him. Probably the latter - she was covered in burns from head to toe, and about the only bits of her appearance that could be identified past the horrific injuries were two massive batlike wings that sprouted from her back, charred and heavily tattered.

He nudged her with his foot. “You can’t be here. This is Alley Gator turf.”

She didn’t respond. He nudged her again. “If some of those anti-mutant bastards did this to you, you can be sure I’ll make ‘em pay if I find ‘em, but you can’t stay here.”

She still didn’t respond. He looked at one of his underlings and nodded his head in the woman’s direction. “Get ‘er outta here.”

As the thug grabbed her shoulder, she finally made a noise - a faint groan.

“Boss says you gotta go,” he stated, heaving her up in a bridal carry with a wheeze. “Nothin’ personal, I’ll try to find ya a good spot.”

As he began to carry her away, she blearily blinked awake. One purple, slitted eye looked at him - the other one seemed to be missing entirely.

“Damn, you got fucked  _ up _ , huh? Piss off one of the other gangs, like the-”

He was cut off as she drove a knife into his chest. He immediately dropped her, but she stubbornly clung to him, keeping one hand clamped around the knife’s handle in a firm grip. He staggered back, grabbing for his own knife, only to find it gone - she had apparently taken it and stabbed him with it in one motion.

“You fuckin’ bi-”

Size activated, and the knife enlarged in the thug’s chest, cracking through his ribs and piercing clean through the back of his chest with the force of its growth. He dropped to the ground as the demonic woman staggered to her feet.

The other two thugs and their musclebound crocodilian boss rushed into action.

“You’re gonna regret that!”

One of the thugs whacked her hard upside the head with a metal pipe, causing her to drop onto all fours. Vicious claws raked his shin open as a side effect of her catching herself.

“Agh, motherfuck-”

The tip of one of her tattered wings found its home in the man’s throat, and he dropped as well, bleeding out from the wound. The other thug was too slow to react to the new threat, and her other wing soon made three new holes in his chest.

Sakimukuro grabbed her by the throat, hefting her up with one hand and slamming her into the alley wall. “You just cost me three of my best men,” he hissed, spittle flecking her face. “I’m not just going to kill you for that - I’m going to make you  _ suffer _ .”

Glaring back at him with one purple eye, she defiantly clamped one hand onto his, fingertips brushing against a simple steel ring he wore. Size activated again, shrinking it and severing his finger. As he recoiled and howled in pain, she tore his chest open with a clumsy swing of vicious claws.

As he lay dying on the ground, she staggered off, her movements ever-so-slightly healthier than they had been.

* * *

Mayohiga was one of Gensokyo’s more secluded locales - an abandoned village nestled in the mountains, populated only by cats. Despite a persistent rumor that the items scavenged from it bring good luck, it rarely saw visitors, a product of its position nearly directly on the border. Simply getting near the village usually sufficed to disorient travelers enough that they’d inevitably lose their way and never find the fabled ghost town.

Thus, when Mamizou and a horde of nearly forty tanuki strolled directly into the mist-shrouded village, it was the most visitors it had gotten at one time in nearly five centuries.

“Out for a stroll, are we?”

Fur bristling, Mamizou growled at the nine-tailed fox youkai who had just stepped out of the mist, where she had been hiding in the shadow of one of the buildings.

“You know very well why I’m here, Ran.”

“I don’t think she does, actually,” A light, airy voice called out. “You hold so many grudges against the Kitsune race, after all.”

Looking up, Mamizou spotted Saigyouji Yuyuko floating above the streets, neatly silhouetted by the moon.

“Well ain’t this a sight,” she growled. “All three of Yakumo’s conspirators in one place. This where yer teatime is held, or what?”

“Aww, you knew I was here?” an echoing, drunken voice slurred, coming from everywhere within the mists.

Soon enough, the mists condensed into the diminutive form of Ibuki Suika.

“How long?” Mamizou hissed. “Yukari had you working for her from the start, didn’t she? You weren’t just offering to train Izuku outta the blue.”

“Nope,” Suika replied, popping her ‘p’. “I genuinely wanted to see what he could do in a fight.”

“To expect Lady Ibuki to cooperate with a plan is generally a fool’s errand,” Ran added.

Mamizou shot a glare at the Kitsune. “My business ain’t with any of you. You go back to your master and tell her-”

“Lady Yukari is currently busy, and I have strict orders not to allow her to be disturbed.”

“Like I give a shit about that,” the elder tanuki spat. “If you’re not going to get her, I’ll go to her myself and put my geta so far up her-”

Suika noisily popped the cork on her gourd and took a long swig from it before wiping her mouth messily with the back of hand.

“It’s no use, Ran,” the diminutive Oni slurred. “She’s in a temper right now. Only way she’s leaving is with a fight, one way or the other.”

“If I have to go through all three of you, I will,” Mamizou growled.

“I’ll sit this one out,” Yuyuko laughed, covering her grin with her fan. “I just ate.”

“I want the first match,” Suika declared. “Haven’t gotten a good fight in since Reimu shipped off for Hell.”

“Miss Ibuki,” Ran stated rather harshly. “Chen is rather fond of this village and the cats who inhabit it. While you’re welcome to the first match-”

Getting to her feet, Suika dismissed the comment with a wave of her hand. “Yeah, yeah, keep the damage minimal, I got it.”

Drunkenly, the oni swayed back, nearly toppling over backwards before catching herself and stumbling nearly as far forwards. The process repeated a few times before she finally stabilized herself and took another swig of sake in celebration. 

Abruptly, the landscape around them exploded. The village, the trees, and the hills all dissolved into mist to leave the gathered youkai standing in an empty plain, and the Moon hung low and ominous in the sky, a massive spotlight to accent the duel.

“You know, I’ve been watching you,” Suika slurred. “From the moment you first arrived in Gensokyo, everything you’ve done has been to entrench the Tanuki as one of the most influential youkai groups.”

“I look after my pack. Simple as that.”

“So Izuku and Inko aren’t part of your pack, then?”

Fury flashed in Mamizou’s eyes at the accusation. Suika continued.

“You turned your back on them for years and stayed distant even once you could return to the Outside World. You never bothered to teach your son how to use a Spell Card, or even how to fly, and if Yukari hadn’t tipped Sumireko off that his powers were coming in early, he’d have died on his first day of being a youkai. If you had paid closer attention to the Outside World, you’d have seen your son’s death coming, and Yukari wouldn’t have to step in and spirit your wife away to clean up after your mess.”

She took another swig as Mamizou snapped her kiseru with an infuriated twitch of her fingers.

“So, tell me again: What was that about looking after your pack?”

At a gesture from Mamizou, one of her tanuki underlings jumped at the Oni, transforming into a massive, animated wall - a Nurikabe - as it dove through the air. Suika batted it aside with one hand, her unbreakable gourd clutched in it like a club.

The Moon cracked like a mirror, and the fight was on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the scenes in this chapter is one I've been eagerly waiting to use for ages now.
> 
> Suika's savage teardowns is something from her Immaterial and Missing Power story mode that I always really liked. Despite her drunken demeanor (and drunken, well, drunkenness), she's far more observant and canny than people usually give her credit for.


	39. Ultimate Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A revelation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's been a long time coming.

Izuku was fairly certain he was dead. At the very least, he couldn't think of any place in myths or reality that would fit the description of where he was.

Everything, as far as he could see, was blackness. It wasn't dark - far from it, it was seemingly well-lit enough that if he looked only at himself, he would swear he was on the street in broad daylight. It was just that there was nothing else there. Not a single feature in an infinite void.

The void itself was even more bizarre in its traits. He stood on nothing. If he tried to, he could swim through the nothingness, fly by thought alone, or simply walk, and the moment he stopped attempting to move he would halt. There was no gravity, yet no feeling of weightlessness. No chill, nor warmth, nor even a breeze against his skin.

In search of a way out, and with nothing better to do, Izuku picked a direction (as much as one can pick a direction when there are no landmarks of any kind) and began to walk.

And as he walked, with nothing to occupy his mind, he began to _ think _.

* * *

_ “I can’t shake the feeling that I’m just not getting something about how my power works.” _

A simple sentence, said out of frustration so many months ago. At the time, he had been trying to apply his Ability at range, to hasten the spread of his power to transform objects he was touching.

It made sense as a training strategy - for Quirks.

But then, Abilities weren't Quirks.

* * *

Nothingness. No surprise there.

Was he walking straight?

How much time had passed?

Meaningless questions in an empty world.

* * *

_ “You appeared directly behind Yanagi and struck her while she was still unaware you had done so.” _

The first of several strange occurrences. He had never figured out how to replicate this teleportation trick, born out of desperation, and he never even knew where to begin - how can the ability to transform objects let someone teleport?

It can't.

But clearly, his Ability could.

* * *

Izuku could at least take heart in the fact that he felt neither hungry nor tired - he hadn’t been here, wherever ‘here’ was, for long.

Or maybe he had?

There was nothing to judge time by, after all.

* * *

_ As the lightning bolt descended upon him, it abruptly changed direction, launching off from him at a ninety degree angle just before striking him and lancing straight through YuugenMagan’s final eye, obliterating it in a blaze of demonic lightning. _

Another unexplainable feat. He had some ideas for how he had managed it - changing the air he was touching to alter its electrical charge, giving the lightning a new path of least resistance, but those were complex tricks, things he hadn’t done on his own before and likely couldn’t have managed with an instinctive act of self-defense.

No, just like his teleportation - there had to be something different, some key common point he was missing.

* * *

Idly, he wondered where exactly he was. Mamizou had mentioned how Youkai could be revived through being remembered and feared - did that mean they had a different afterlife as well? Was he barred from the normal afterlife because of his heritage?

Would he just wander the void for the remainder of his existence?

* * *

Kaguya, Eirin, and Mokou - something about all three of them had unnerved him and him alone. Neither Uraraka nor Reiko had seemed even slightly on edge, and Sumireko regularly hung out with Mokou without ever mentioning anything about it.

The one common factor - all three of the immortals had drunk the Hourai Elixir.

_ "It imbues the drinker with the very concept of Eternity, removing all capacity for lasting change from their body and ensuring that no force in existence can destroy them." _

* * *

_ He needed shielding. As his Ability flared up, the simple cloth of his costume’s samue shifted, running through every form of armor he could think of - padding, kevlar, steel plate armor, thick plating that wouldn’t be out of place on a battleship, none of it could stand up against All Might’s assault and so he reached ever further with his Ability, trying to find something he could use to weather the storm. _

_ Suddenly, a momentary flash of confusion crossed the hero’s face, a single drop of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth as the rain of blows began to slow and weaken. Beads of sweat formed on the hero’s brow as he tried to keep up his momentum, slowly giving way to small wisps of smoke and full-on tendrils of steam-like vapor. _

_ Izuku recognized the tells for what they were - how could he forget that fateful day? All Might was out of time. _

All Might had run out of time fighting him, but had clearly been confused - meaning the hero hadn’t been running low on time up to that moment, and that the loss of time had been all too sudden.

With a sinking feeling, Izuku realized _ he _ had done that when he had reached out for anything his Ability could use to overcome the assault.

* * *

From the start, he had misidentified his Ability, focusing on the most obvious application of it and refining that component alone under the mistaken belief he had a strictly tangible power, one like Uraraka’s lycanthropy or Mamizou’s disguises. Never once had he allowed himself to consider that he might have a conceptual power. That sort of thing was reserved for people like Reisen, Kaguya, or Yukari - nearly untouchable beings of immense power. Not a lowly half-human like himself.

Now, in the empty void, the clues he had missed seemed all too obvious.

"What do you _ see _," Yukari had asked him, standing untouched in an ever-shifting world.

The answer to that question seemed so simple now.

Change.

His Ability was the Manipulation of Change.

* * *

Countless eyes blinked open, stars in the dark void.

“It certainly took you long enough to reach the correct answer,” a woman’s voice whispered in his ear.

Whirling, he found the Youkai of Boundaries standing directly behind him.

“Yukari.”

“You don’t seem as surprised as I’d have hoped,” she noted, a hint of amusement in her tone. “Perhaps I should have made my appearance earlier, rather than waiting for you to realize the truth of your Ability on your own?”

“Where are we?”

She tapped her chin with a closed fan in a show of contemplation. “An interesting question, and one that’s impossible to answer. This place is a realm without meaning, an existence utterly devoid of any boundaries. It is at once both everything and nothing, without any difference between the two. You could describe it as hot, and be, strictly speaking, just as accurate as if you had described it as cold.”

“Then, I’m not dead? If I’m here and there’s no distinction between life and death, then-”

“Well observed, but it doesn’t work that way, unfortunately for you. The life of the human known as Midoriya Izuku has come to an end, one way or another. Cut cruelly and brutally short by a rogue demon with power over Mortality. I applaud your efforts, though - you can rest in peace knowing your companions were able to thwart Elis’s efforts and stop Sariel from escaping their prison.”

“So why am I here, then? Why haven’t I gone on to the afterlife or reincarnation?”

She turned her back to him, drawing a vertical line in the air with the tip of her fan. “You’ve made some good friends at that school of yours, it seems. Your companions have come all this way to Gensokyo to try to revive you in their own ways.”

Where Yukari had drawn her fan, a gap in space split open, displaying an image of another place.

* * *

Komachi scratched her head idly with the tip of her scythe as she continued flipping through the ledger. “You said ‘Midoriya Izuku’, right?”

Uraraka nodded frantically. “Yeah, that’s right, is he anywhere in there? Did you already ferry him?”

“I ferried a load of souls about a week ago, haven’t done any since then. So if he died more recently than that he should be in here.”

“So did you find him yet?”

“That’s just the thing, I haven’t seen him in here at -oh!”

“What? Is he in there?”

“Old man Sou died! I liked that guy! I guess he was like ninety, though.”

“Can you please focus?” Uraraka pleaded.

“Excuse me,” Tokoyami interrupted, holding up a rolled paper. “Might I ask you what this is? I found it in your boat.”

Komachi barely spared the paper a glance. “Oh, that? That’s the Bunbunmaru, some special edition or something. Aya was practically in a frenzy distributing it this morning. Must’ve had some big scoop. Anyways, you’re sure it’s the characters for ‘green’ and ‘valley’? It’s not ‘kingfisher’ and ‘shop’? Because I’ve got a ‘kingfisher’ and ‘shop’.”

“Yes, it’s ‘green’ and ‘valley’!”

As they continued poring over the ledger of souls, Tokoyami flipped the paper open, curious about what the newspaper for a realm of Youkai contained. The front-page article made his jaw drop.

“No way…”

* * *

“Uraraka Ochako and Tokoyami Fumikage have decided to try to bargain with the Shinigami for your soul. An easy enough task, considering her rather carefree attitude towards her work.”

A bittersweet smile came to Izuku’s face at the sight of his friends trying desperately to find him among the recently deceased. Yukari’s next sentence, however, shot a spear of ice straight through his heart.

“They’re woefully underprepared for the dangers of Gensokyo.”

His voice was barely a whisper. “What?”

“I wonder, if they were to find themselves among hostile youkai, how long would they last? She has little magical power to her name, and he has none at all. Neither of them understand the Spell Card system or have Spell Cards to call their own. Any fight they get into could be their last.”

As she spoke, the vision in the gap exploded into light as a series of circular rings of flame exploded into being from empty air. Each ring was subtly imperfect, the flame failing to fully complete the circle, but it mattered not, as brilliant bullets of white light filled the gap and left no place to dodge.

The vision abruptly cut to black.

“It seems they’re even quicker on the draw than I thought,” Yukari noted with the sly smile of someone who was very pleased with themselves. “But our time is short. Shall we see what Miss Yanagi is up to?”

* * *

“This won’t work!” Seiga practically screamed at Reiko. “I’ve taught you everything you know about magic, everything you know about youkai, and you think you know better than me!?”

Reiko tried to shut her master out, focusing intently on the talismans she was inking instead. Now more than ever, the runes had to be absolutely perfect. Seiga continued her tirade.

“You need the original body to create a Jiangshi! Youkai Don’t leave bodies when killed! The process of becoming a Shikaisen turns an object into a fake body for you to cheat death with! These are all things I taught you!”

Closing her eyes and exhaling sharply, Reiko moved the completed command talisman to one side before beginning to slowly and carefully draw a circle of runes around the pillow that lay on the table - a pillow she had plundered from Izuku’s room.

“What part of _ any _ of that makes you think that you can provide the required body for a deceased youkai by _ using the Shikaisen process to create a fake!? _”

* * *

Izuku felt a bit of relief at the fact that she seemed to be well-protected and surrounded by allies.

“Yanagi Reiko is seeking to drag you back from the other side as a sort of insurance policy in case the other two fail,” Yukari explained. “I daresay your death at Sariel’s hands reminded her of Idealist’s fate a little too strongly, leaving her unhinged. She cares little for the consequences of her plan. If she were to succeed, you’d be trapped inside a rotting artificial corpse. Under normal circumstances, she would fail - as I have you here with me, the reanimation process will come up with nothing, leaving the artificial corpse as lifeless as the moment of its creation.”

He could tell Yukari had no intention of these being ‘normal circumstances’.

“Tell me,” she asked. “What do you think would happen if I were to send her a soul of my own creation? A Shikigami to animate her so carefully constructed husk?”

He didn’t have to think about it - he had no doubt that this would result in a Jiangshi under Yukari’s total control and close enough to strike Reiko down before she could even realize something was wrong.

“Now, as for your Youkai parent…”

* * *

Mamizou deftly slipped to one side as Suika came barreling out of the sky in a dive, hitting the ground hands-first and sending massive spikes of rock shooting up out of the ground. Whipping her sake jug out, she smacked the diminutive oni across the face with it.

Taking it cleanly across the jaw, Suika barely even flinched before responding with a massive punch that shattered the stone spikes and caused the air to ignite from the sheer force involved. Mamizou narrowly avoided a direct hit, but the blast and shockwave sent her flying back regardless.

“I know that isn’t all you got,” Suika slurred. “We said as many cards as we need, and neither of us have even busted out _ one _ yet. So let’s change that.”

Mamizou grimaced as Suika raised both manacled hands above her head. She had been hoping to wear the Oni down with ranged combat before having to use her first card, but that plan was out the window now - Suika’s Spell Cards had all manner of tricks to make up for the oni’s relative ineptitude at ranged combat. She needed raw volume of fire to try to counter the incoming attack, immediately.

She declared her first spell, scattering nearly a hundred leaves on the wind all around her as she did so. At the same moment, Suika slammed both hands onto the ground.

“First Duel ‘Primate Danmaku Transformation’!”  
“Fire Shot ‘Earth Activation Bullet’!”

The raw force of Suika’s punch, combined with her Density Manipulation, drew molten rock from the ground to erupt in a series of geysers, spewing lava everywhere. Had Mamizou been a moment later on the draw, her spell would have been ruined. Thankfully, her transformation took place before the cataclysmic attack reached her. The myriad leaves exploded into smoke before taking the forms of a hundred small human silhouettes, each one armed with a basic musket and taking shots at their foe in a farcical recreation of the youkai hunts of old.

Nearly a fifth of the line of ‘soldiers’ perished in fire as the first conflagration hit, and Suika brought her hands down for a second.

* * *

“Mamizou is powerful, certainly. One doesn’t become known as one of the greatest Tanuki in Japan without the strength to back that title up. But Suika herself has held claim to loftier titles in the past and cheated death more times than most have even had the opportunity to. It will be a difficult battle, one that will leave her drained even if she wins. She won’t make it past Ran.”

“Why are you doing this?” He asked at last.

Sitting in the air to recline on nothingness, she flipped her fan open, hiding the lower portion of her face behind it so only her eyes peeked over it. “Gensokyo has one ironclad rule above all else: Youkai must be feared by Humans. Mamizou broke that rule when she fathered you.”

“...she fell in love with Mom,” Izuku recalled.

“If she cares enough for humans to father a child with one, then why should people still fear her? It would be one thing if she had broken off contact with you - Morichika Rinnosuke enjoys a peaceful life on the outskirts of the village despite being a half-youkai - but, by going to lengths to ensure your safety, she has shown that she can no longer be trusted to instill fear in humans.”

Carefully studying his reaction, she continued.

“As for the others, Miss Uraraka Ochako has likewise blurred the line of coexistence by becoming a werewolf. It’s regrettable, but she too must be eliminated - if the people of the Human Village knew one could simply choose to become a Youkai, the delicate balance would be disrupted. Mister Tokoyami Fumikage will simply be unfortunate collateral damage - yet another missing person in the Outside World - while Miss Yanagi Reiko has at long last fulfilled her purpose. I no longer have a use for her, nor do I see any point in keeping her around to jeopardize any future plans.”

“You cannot save them,” Yukari said matter-of-factly, and Izuku could tell she wore a sadistic smirk behind her fan. “You have neither the power to do so nor the time needed to acquire said power.”

“What do you want?” Izuku asked, an unpleasant lump in his throat. “If you just wanted to get rid of me, Sariel did that for you. We wouldn’t be having this conversation right now if that was your goal.”

“Become one of my Shikigami,” she stated. “In exchange for your subservience, I will allow your friends to leave Gensokyo unharmed, your mother will be safely returned to the Outside World, and I will turn a blind eye to Mamizou’s transgressions.”

It was a carefully crafted offer, that much was clear - Yukari had taken great care to make the cost of refusing too high for him to bear. And yet, he hesitated. Something about it seemed off to him.

“How do I know you’ll keep your word?”

He could almost hear the teasing smile in her voice. “You don’t. But if you have to pick between a slim chance of your friends’ survival versus no chance at all, the choice should be simple enough to make.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, rereading half the fic in the process of writing this chapter: Why did I not write down all the places I sprinkled foreshadowing for his Ability's true nature aaaaargh  
I don't even necessarily call back to all the foreshadowing, as certain bits (example: Youmu referring to Izuku's defensive usage as a 'shroud of c-') seemed like they wouldn't have stood out in Izuku's memory.
> 
> Three Spell Cards are used in this chapter, but only two of them are explicitly named. Each one is indeed a canon spell card being used by its owner, though Mamizou's using one from her boss appearance in Ten Desires while Suika's responding with one from her fight in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. This means the two of them are mixing Shmup/Fighting Game spell cards. (And the unnamed Spell Card is a shmup spell card, for those who may care to try to identify it).


	40. A Maiden's Illusionary Funeral ~ Necro-Fantasy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku makes a choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 16663 at the time of my writing this - the number of the beast (if we ignore the pesky numbers at the front and back, and thus effectively view the hits counter as a different number).
> 
> Chapter is named for Ran's boss theme, from the Extra Stage of Perfect Cherry Blossom.

“You’re welcome to take as long as you need to make your decision,” Yukari assured him. “But then, your friends may not have the same luxury.”

* * *

Tokoyami cursed as another wave of brilliant flame and blinding light pulsed out from the air itself, forcing Dark Shadow to shrink back under his cloak mid-attack. Whatever type of Youkai their opponent was, they were quite possibly one of the worst matchups he could have - the amount of light being thrown around kept his quirk at bay and, when combined with the enemy’s range advantage and apparent flight, reduced him to nothing but dead weight. Uraraka was doing her best to attack their enemy in the few openings she had, but she couldn’t keep dodging forever, not without someone else to help draw their focus off of her.

“Aren’t you going to help us with this?” He angrily asked Komachi.

Leaning on her scythe, the Shinigami stifled a yawn. “What, are you too lazy to fight for yourself? I know who you’re fighting, it shouldn’t be any problem for you guys. They’re more a nuisance than anything, really.”

As he watched Uraraka launch herself at the source of the attacks, he somehow doubted that. She seemed to hit nothing at all with her attack, while their unseen foe launched counterattacks from two other places in rapid succession, catching her in a crossfire of blue energy pellets and forcing her to retreat. Even as she escaped, a stray bullet caught her in the leg with a burst of magical power, making her wince.

“Uraraka! Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” she growled. “Just stings.”

“We should try to retreat - I can’t do anything, and they’re too fast for us. It’s like they’re in multiple places at once.”

“That’s because they are,” she replied. Off to the side, Komachi chuckled.

“What?”

“I can’t hear them, I can’t see them, but I can smell them - there’s three of them, working as a team.”

“That’s right, you idiots!” A young, childish voice called, emanating from the air itself. “You stupid humans don’t stand a chance! We’re unbeatable when we work together!”

Another voice broke in in response. “Luna, the sound!”

“Oh, ri-”

The voices cut off abruptly, replaced by silence as the attacks resumed. Tokoyami and Uraraka split in opposite directions as a barrage of blue bullets shot at them from two of their attackers.

With multiple attackers, it was more important than ever that he find a way to get around his weakness and contribute to the fight. But as long as the light-user was still active, there was no way he could go on the offensive. Unless…

It was risky, but he had to try. It wasn’t like he was contributing much as it was, what with the rings of light keeping Dark Shadow at bay.

As the next attack was launched, he grabbed his cloak and threw it into the air in front of him, shielding him and his quirk from the radiant assailant. Dark Shadow surged forth, holding onto the fabric for dear life as it closed in on the light-using attacker. Before its target had a chance to dodge, it threw the cloak over the spot the light rings were coming from, shrinking slightly as it exposed itself to the luminous attack.

The unseen enemy struggled with the cloak for a moment before deciding to let loose their attack on the inside of the interfering garment. Tokoyami watched with satisfaction as the attempt at freedom failed. As part of his costume, his cloak had been made to standard hero specifications and was both fireproof and blast resistant - qualities that were proving  _ very _ useful now.

Uraraka came barreling through the air like a cannonball, tearing the cloak wide open with her claws as easily as if it were made of tissue paper. The trapped enemy’s demise was indisputable - they exploded into nothing but mist as the cloak gently fluttered to the ground.

The remaining two enemies shimmered into view, two girls who looked more like children than fearsome mythical beasts. One of them, a girl with curly blonde hair, wore a white dress decorated with black bows, while the other had long, straight black hair and a blue dress adorned with stars. Their inhuman nature was readily apparent, telegraphed by the translucent wings extending from their backs.

“Fairies,” Uraraka grumbled.

Tokoyami gaped - the werewolf had seemingly just killed one of them, after all. “They look so young…”

“Deku explained it to me at one point - they’re embodiments of nature and childish pranksters. They act young, so they look young. In reality, they’ll outlive both of us, as long as whatever aspect of nature they spawned from lasts.”

“So the one you killed isn’t dead?”

“You kidding?” Komachi laughed from the sidelines. “You’ll be lucky if that gets her out of your hair for more than a couple hours!”

The blonde fairy began apparently yelling something at Tokoyami, though her voice was muted by some strange power and the words never reached him. He could get the gist of it, though: she was swearing vengeance for her fallen comrade. Hoping to end the fight before the fairies could regain the advantage, he sent Dark Shadow at her. As the quirk closed in on her, she made what seemed like a dramatic proclamation accompanied by a flourish, and the air around them was suddenly filled with countless small, glittering, diamond-shaped bullets. Before she could unleash her attack, though, the shadowy quirk struck her across the chest, causing her to explode into a cloud of mist like her companion as her bullets simply dissolved into nothingness.

A single fireball floating through the air drew his attention towards Uraraka, and he found that she had likewise dispatched their remaining opponent in short order. Komachi gave a few, drawn-out, sarcastic-sounding claps.

“Good job, you beat the Three Fairies of Light,” she drawled. “I was worried you two wouldn’t make it for a moment there.”

Tokoyami raised an eyebrow. “Are fairy attacks a regular occurrence?”

The shinigami shrugged. “Eh, it depends, really. They like to join in on the fun if they see someone’s fighting, so they tend to get rowdy whenever an Incident’s happening. Bit unusual for them to just attack out of the blue like that, though.”

“An Incident?”

“Are you new around here?” she asked suddenly, looking at the bird-headed boy with a scrutinizing look. “Because you definitely  _ sound _ new around here.”

He gave Uraraka a pleading look, trying to divine from her expression whether it was safe to respond truthfully or not. She just gave a helpless shrug.

“Eh, doesn’t really matter to me. Incidents are what we call it when weird shit’s going on. We’ve actually had two of them nearly simultaneously recently, which is kinda weird. The first was some ghosts coming up from hell or something, and the second is-”

Suddenly, the sky turned dark as the sun was blotted out by an obstacle. Looking up for the source of the sudden shadow, Tokoyami gawked as he saw a massive rock floating suspended in midair, perfectly positioned to cover their particular stretch of beach in shadow.

“-that.”

Seemingly responding to the shinigami’s comment, whatever force was holding the rock in place began to give way, and the massive hunk of stone began to descend towards the water’s surface.

“Alright, now this can’t be any good,” Komachi muttered, finally standing up straight and gripping her scythe firmly with one hand. “You can’t just go dumping stuff in the Sanzu. Now I gotta actually do something.”

In two steps, she crossed the entirety of the shore to reach the water’s edge, her Manipulation of Distance making the act of traversing thirty meters of sand as effortless as simply rolling over in bed.

With a single swing of her scythe, the distance between each particle in the massive boulder was magnified to a tremendous degree, breaking the object into nothing more than dust spread across several miles of sky. After a moment, satisfied that no more attacks were inbound, she let out a long, loud yawn.

“Geez, that was an exhausting effort,” she lied, already beginning to lay down in her boat. “Gonna need to sleep that off.”

“Wait, you’re going to sleep again!?” Uraraka shouted. “But what about-”

Komachi waved one of her hands dismissively, squirming to try to find a comfortable position. “I’ve checked the ledger three times now. The name ‘Midoriya Izuku’ isn’t in there. Wherever he is, he isn’t dead.”

“Wait, he’s alive? Then do you know where-”

“Not my problem,” the shinigami replied, letting out another yawn. “I’m on break.”

* * *

Reiko stared at the product of her spell.

“...”

“I warned you, didn’t I?”

“...”

“The Shikaisen ritual turns an object into a fake body for  _ YOU _ ,” Seiga repeated, emphasizing the last part of her sentence. “For  _ YOU! _ Not for someone else!”

“...can… can you just shut up, please?” Reiko finally managed, sounding broken and defeated.

“No! Because I’m your magic teacher, and I expect you to live up to my standards! So what are you going to do about this now, huh?”

The magician looked sadly at the body on the table. It was a body she could instantly identify from just the faintest glimpse of its silhouette. She didn’t need to lift the cloth that had been draped over it to see the chin-length gray hair, didn’t need to open its lifeless blue eyes to confirm their color, didn’t need to measure… well.

It was a perfect duplicate of her own body that lay on the table.

“Are you going to at least do something right and become a Shikaisen, or do I need to get rid of this for you?”

“No, just… just get rid of it.”

“Alright then.” Turning to the door, the wicked hermit called down the hallway for her pet jiangshi. “Yoshika! Yoshika, darling, I have a treat for you!”

Extremely disturbed by what Seiga was about to do, Reiko hastily left the room and hurried down the hall.

* * *

Suika grimaced as a sweep of Mamizou’s tail sent another wave of leaves issuing forth. As they flew, they transformed into simple, cartoony outlines of frogs, each one letting out a single ribbit before exploding into a wave of bullets. Again, the oni was caught squarely in the crossfire, the magical projectiles taking their toll on the oni as effectively as any weapon could.

“That’s gettin’ real annoying,” she grumbled. “And the theming’s weird, too - your little human guys with guns, I get. The birds and dogs, I get. But frogs and exploding? That I don’t get.”

“It’s because the Moriya shrine maiden uses exploding frog bullets,” Mamizou replied, casually tossing out another wave of leaves.

“I need to fight her more often, I guess. But seriously, don’t you think it’s about time you had to use another Spell Card? ‘Cause I think it’s about time you had to use another Spell Card.”

She took a long swig from her purple gourd, letting some alcohol dribble from her chin as she declared her next attack.

“ Kishin ‘Missing Purple Power’ .”

With the invocation of her latest Spell Card, Suika grew and grew until she was nearly three stories in height. Raising one foot high into the air, she brought it down in a massive stomp. As the frogs weakly croaked in protest, their bullets, once so effective, simply bounced off the massive oni’s skin. Standard attacks, it seemed, would no longer cut it.

As Suika took another massive step forward, Mamizou gathered up a cluster of leaves, ready to focus all her spell’s firepower at a single point in a bid to break through the oni’s defenses.

Again, Suika brought her foot down, forcing Mamizou to stumble backwards, tripping and falling clumsily over her own tail and loosing the frog bullets into the sky instead of the oni’s leg.

“C’mon, Mamizou” Suika chuckled, bringing her fist down in a punch that Mamizou rolled aside to dodge just in time, “You’re better than that.”

The elder tanuki grinned as the frogs detonated in midair, giving the signal she had agreed upon ahead of time with her co-conspirator.

“Yes,” she replied. “Yes I am.”

* * *

Crouched and hidden from view, Nue drew her bow taut. It was one of her most prized possessions - the weapon that had once wounded her, stolen and kept as a trophy for centuries after the event. It brought a smile to her face every time she imagined how the Minamoto must have reacted upon discovering the artifact’s theft.

“ Grudge Bow ,” she whispered, magic flowing through her and into the ancient weapon she held. “ The bow of Genzanmi Yorimasa .”

As she let the arrow fly, one became two, and two became four. Each mirror of the original arrow froze in place for only an instant before flying off on its own, slightly different trajectory, forming a spread of arrows that would have looked more natural coming from an entire unit of archers rather than a single inhuman bowman.

Before any of the arrows could reach their target, a cloud of butterflies formed of pink light exploded into being, intercepting each and every projectile. Yuyuko gave a ghostly, teasing laugh as she drifted down through the air to approach the chimeric youkai.

“You’re Houjuu Nue, if I’m not mistaken?” the ghostly princess asked. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of dueling you before. If you would do me the honor?”

Nue grimaced. She needed to make this quick, or Mamizou would get worn down by her oni opponent. “One card?”

Yuyuko gave an overdramatic sigh. “Very well, if you insist on a short duel…”

She flourished her fan, dramatically pointing it at the ancient youkai.

“ Resurrection Butterfly .”

She faded into shadow as the sky around her exploded into bullets and lasers. 

“Shit!”

Nue was forced to leap to one side as a laser tore through the spot where she had been standing, and began the delicate task of weaving between butterfly projectiles.

_ Damn phantom’s stalling me, _ she mentally cursed.  _ Can’t touch her when she’s using this, so my only option is to wait for her to run out of steam. Hope you can hold out till then, Mamizou. _

* * *

Another tremendous, earthshaking punch from Suika met with nothing but air as Mamizou deftly slipped backwards, exploiting the decrease in speed brought on by the oni’s transformation. She could keep dodging forever, but that would get her no closer to victory - Suika had enough stamina to keep her transformation going all day. No, she needed firepower.

A glance to the side confirmed what she had feared - Yuyuko had been there to watch for any outside interference and ensure that she had to fight Suika and Ran on her own. She had to escalate her own efforts, then.

Backflipping into the air, Mamizou threw a leaf underneath her, transforming it into a Torii gate an instant before she landed on it in a crouch. Taking a deep swig from her bottle of sake, she snapped her fingers - her underlings knew what to do.

“ Transformation ‘Youkai World Gate of One Hundred Demons’ .”

At her command, hundreds of bakedanuki swarmed through the gate, transforming as they passed under its threshold and becoming a teeming mass of countless youkai varieties. A Chochin-Obake, an Amakiri, a Wanyuudo, a Hihi - no two of Mamizou’s tanuki underlings chose the same form, and together they crashed into Suika, a massive tide of mythological beasts coming up to the enormous oni’s waist.

As the deva reached down to fling a dozen transformed tanuki aside, one particularly gutsy underling took the form of a Gashadokuro, towering above the rest of his companions. The massive skeleton delivered an earthshaking headbutt to the oni, grabbing her wrists to stop her from counterattacking. She grinned in response.

“An imitation Night Parade, huh?”

If the Gashadokuro had had eyes, they would have widened in their skeletal sockets as Suika flipped him to one side, sending him crashing to the ground and launching transformed tanuki in every direction. She shrank back to her normal form, hovering in midair just out of reach of most of the swarm.

“Not a bad trick, but you should remember: I  _ AM _ a Night Parade.”

Mamizou choked on her drink as she realized what was about to happen. 

“Everyone,” she coughed, wiping alcohol from her mouth with the back of her hand, “get to safety! She’s about to use-”

“ Night Parade of a Million Demons .”

A massive black hole sprang into existence around Suika, drawing everyone towards it with its inescapable suction. Every last member of the tanuki swarm, previously so confident they had the upper hand, was reduced to clinging desperately to any handholds they could find in a bid to avoid falling into the oni’s attack, in some cases even latching onto the tails of their comrades.

With each moment that passed, however, the black hole grew stronger, and before long the tanuki found themselves slipping. To make matters worse, Suika herself began to attack, bolts of purple magical energy shooting forth in all directions like some sadistic parody of Hawking radiation.

Perched securely on a shrine gate that wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, Mamizou began to launch wave after wave of transformed leaves at Suika, swarms of birds and dogs surging forth to strike at her enemy in a desperate bid to stop the destructive attack.

“Leave my underlings out of this, you impossibly dense brat!”

* * *

Izuku had come to his conclusion - he couldn’t trust Yukari to keep her end of the bargain. If he accepted, there was nothing to stop her from simply having his friends killed regardless. Though she had tried to frame it as an unwinnable scenario, she had slipped up in her wording. 

_ “ _ _ It will be a difficult battle, one that will leave her drained even if she wins. She won’t make it past Ran," _ Yukari had said.

In other words, Mamizou could win against Suika, but not against Ran. If he could somehow manage to escape, to stop Mamizou from trying to fight Ran, she and Nue could protect Uraraka, Tokoyami, and Reiko and help them escape Gensokyo.

As though reading his mind, Yukari calmly stated, “It seems you’ve made your decision.”

He didn’t know where he was, but that didn’t matter - he just needed to have an idea where he was going. Gathering all the power his Ability had to offer him, he focused intently on the place he had seen in Yukari’s portal, the battlefield between tanuki and oni.

Izuku Changed his Location.

* * *

Mamizou’s grip was as firm as ever, but the gate she clung to was reaching the limits of its endurance - Suika’s black hole had reached full strength and had already dispatched all her underlings, leaving her as the sole opponent facing the oni. She had to figure out a counterattack, some way to actually stop the all-consuming force and move on to Ran.

She sighed as the wood began to creak and splinter in protest of the massive force it was being subjected to. Despite all of her planning, it would come down to a gamble on whether she’d get lucky or not.

Letting go, she grabbed one final leaf from her pockets as she sailed through the air.

Turning it into a Nurikabe, she held the animate wall in front of her in the hopes it would stand the oni’s attack long enough to give her an opening.

Suddenly, just before impact, the black hole dissipated, leaving Suika bereft of any defense.

She grinned at the incoming wall. “Took you long enough, kid.”

Mamizou and the wall slammed into her like a meteor, sending the diminutive oni flying across the plain, unconscious tanuki going flying with every bounce as they spewed forth, no longer held by the oni’s density powers.

Mamizou, panting and exhausted, nearly broke down crying with relief as she saw her underlings again. Logically, she knew the Spell Card rules forbade lethality, but seeing her followers devoured by Suika’s black hole had struck fear into her regardless.

* * *

Izuku felt power coursing through him, far stronger and more present than he had ever felt in the past. Even on his first day in Gensokyo, even when he first learned to feed on surprise, the amount of power, the amount of Belief, he had felt paled in comparison to what he was feeling now. He looked around.

“Da- er, Mo- um. Mamizou!”

The battered Tanuki looked up with a shocked expression. “Izuku?”

He nodded.

“I… I thought you were dead,” she managed, the faintest trace of tears in her eyes. “I was going on the warpath against Yukari to try to force her to bring you back.”

“Don’t forget we’ve got your wife!” Suika shouted from where she lay face down in the dirt, voice faintly muffled.

“Yeah… yeah, I still got unsettled business,” Mamizou grunted, gritting her teeth as she sat up. “Gotta beat the hell outta that damn fox and get Inko back.”

“You can’t fight Ran in that shape!” Izuku protested. “You barely beat Suika!”

“Don’t count me out just yet,” she replied, trying and failing to hide a wince as she grabbed her sake jug for a drink. “I’m a bit more sore than I thought, sure, but I’ve still got some tricks up my sleeve.”

“I’m afraid Izuku is right,” Yukari stated, emerging from a gap in space. “You’re in no shape to fight Ran - after all, she’s currently acting on my direct orders, and has access to my full power as an extension of my will. As for you, Izuku-”

He paled under Yukari’s scrutinizing gaze.

“-You managed that faster than I expected,” she admitted, a coy smile on her face.

Mamizou’s fur bristled. “You-”

Yukari cut her off with a raised hand. “I assure you, no harm has come to Miss Inko in the least. Now, I’m sure you have more questions, but they can wait until after this duel.”

She turned her attention towards her kitsune servant.

“Ran.”

“Of course, Lady Yukari.”

At last unclasping her hands, the Kitsune took a step forward, vanishing into thin air as a hole in reality opened to swallow her whole. After only the briefest of instants, a matching gap appeared a short distance away from Izuku as Ran emerged. A barrier sprang up around the two of them, containing the two of them within a magical cage.

“I do believe I told you to tread carefully when last we spoke,” the shikigami remarked, “And yet I’m given to understand you rudely refused the offer Lady Yukari so generously extended to you.”

With a quick motion, a hole in space opened up, from which nearly a dozen wooden grave markers emerged, flying through the air like arrows. Wrapping himself with Change to protect against the attack, Izuku was caught completely off-guard when the projectiles continued to strike him, completely unhindered by his defense.

“Naturally,” Ran explained, “If an object’s form can change, it stands to reason that there must exist an opposite idea, the idea that something’s form cannot be changed. And manipulating such a Boundary is a simple task, once you know it’s there.”

A faint whistling noise was all the warning he got before a massive gravestone plummeted from the sky, just barely avoiding crushing him. It, too, defied his attempts to change it into another substance.

Grabbing a few of the wooden markers from the ground, Izuku attempted to send them back at the shikigami, fumbling with his Ability as he tried to figure out how to produce the desired result. A few of the sticks simply appeared at Ran’s feet, while others were broken and scattered around the area. At last, he succeeded with the final marker, launching it through the air at her after altering its speed.

Without even a motion from her, another gap opened in space to swallow the incoming projectile before a second one opened to spit it back at him from below his feet. Unable to use his Ability to redirect it in time, it struck him squarely on the underside of his chin.

“A disappointing display,” she stated. “I had hoped you’d be quicker to understand that.”

Sweeping one arm out in front of her, a series of lasers issued forth, forcing Izuku to dodge back rather than try and likely fail to redirect them. As she launched another volley, he tried to apply the trick he had used to escape Yukari’s realm, and met with sudden and somewhat unexpected success, appearing right in her face. Rather than a look of surprise, however, he was met with a cold, calculating gaze.

“How long do you intend to wait before following up your teleportation with an attack?” She asked him.

Startled, he dodged back as she swiped at him, her claws seemingly rending reality itself to leave a short-lived gap in space where they passed. As she moved to cast another set of lasers, he teleported again.

Three times he changed location, vanishing to strike from a new angle, and three times Ran was already facing him, her guard already raised to intercept his attack. The fourth time, she was glaring at him as he reappeared.

“ _ Enough. _ ”

A jolt ran through Izuku’s body, freezing him in place as Boundaries opened up all around him, trapping him in a web of fractured space. Ran paced around him as he struggled to move even a single muscle.

“I’m out of patience - your Ability is underdeveloped, your current grasp on it infantile at best. You could have been so much more as one of Lady Yukari’s shikigami, but you refused even that.”

She raised one clawed hand into the air.

“I had low expectations, and yet you failed to meet even them.”

With a quick swipe of vulpine claws, Izuku was bisected, his upper body falling to earth as his legs remained standing. The Boundaries keeping him in place closed and disappeared, and they, too, dropped weakly to the ground.

As the barrier surrounding the battlefield dissipated, Ran turned towards her master. “I trust that was satisfactory, Lady Yukari?”

Yukari gave her shikigami a warm smile. “Admirably so, Ran. Now, if you could fetch our guests...”

Giving a nod in response, the kitsune disappeared into another gap in space.

“That was a bit much, don’t you think?” Mamizou asked.

“Of course not,” Yukari replied. “Rather, it was precisely what was needed to get my point across. Izuku is not ready. He is a fledgling youkai with an extremely powerful Ability and next to no proper control of it. He needs to understand the danger he poses to others.”

“So you had your pet kitsune wipe the floor with him?”

“So I arranged a demonstration of the dangers of Gensokyo,” she stated. “Something you have failed to do, by treating him with such care.”

“And you brought Inko into this?”

“A ploy to lure you into battle, so he could see two high-level youkai in action. Something you did wonderfully at, I might add.”

Yukari snapped her fingers, and the Boundary that Ran had formed between the two halves of Izuku’s body disappeared, leaving him whole once more. Finally able to feel his legs, he rose shakily to his feet.

“Now, if you two will come with me, we can discuss the details of Izuku’s training at length with all concerned parties. Needless to say,” she added with a smile, “that includes Miss Midoriya Inko. I imagine she’ll be quite interested in an explanation for all of this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All four of the Youkai types I list when Mamizou's using her imitation Night Parade are ones you can see her tanuki underlings imitating when using that spell card in the fighting games. I would have listed more of them, but it was taking too long for me to look them all up and some of them were a bit too ambiguous for me to definitively identify (much to my eternal shame as a lover of youkai lore).
> 
> When I first started the Touhou games I wasn't particularly good at the shmups. As such, the first Final Boss I had experience with was Suika in Immaterial and Missing Power. Her last card, Night Parade of a Million Demons (or Pandemonium, as some translation patches call it), has always stuck in my mind as a particularly awe-inspiring attack.
> 
> The Tanuki vs Kitsune rivalry was too good for me to pass up the opportunity for Ran to fight Izuku.


	41. Charming Domination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some resolutions, at long last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearly 17500, wowza. Also, I passed 420 comments in my inbox - i.e., comments on this fic when not including my own. Nice.
> 
> Chapter is named for Perfect Cherry Blossom's Extra Stage theme.

When the Kitsune had appeared before them, it had been clear to Uraraka that she and Tokoyami had no choice but to accompany her. Everything about the encounter, from the way the youkai had appeared from a hole in reality to the no-nonsense expression she wore and the tone of her voice, told them she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Her werewolf instincts screaming at her that this was someone whose power totally eclipsed hers didn’t hurt, either.

They had followed her through the portal and arrived in a surprisingly modern-looking apartment, with off-white wallpaper and smooth, polished hardwood flooring. It was entirely at odds with the supernatural nature of their host - Uraraka would have sworn she was back in one of UA’s dorm rooms if not for the apartment’s attached kitchenette or the fact that it simply had a pair of windows rather than a balcony. The furnishings were standard and unremarkable - a simple wooden table, a kitchen island, a few mundane chairs placed at the table. The only somewhat noteworthy item was a well-worn Nintendo DS, plugged into an outlet and charging. She picked it up.

_ Merry _ , faded letters written in sharpie proclaimed.

Whoever “Merry” was, she wasn’t the current owner of the console - flipping it open, Uraraka found that the current profile belonged to a “Chen”.

She closed it and returned it to its original resting place. No sense antagonizing their host, after all.

Speaking of their host, the kitsune was nowhere to be seen, leaving the two of them to their own devices. Tokoyami immediately opened the window shades, eager to see what sort of fantastical scenery awaited them. He was met by a sea of eyes in an infinite void, carefully arranged to mirror the stars of the night sky by someone who evidently considered themselves extremely funny.

The eye representing the North Star blinked - winked? - at him.

He immediately closed the shades.

“Mythologically speaking, I have no idea where we are.”

“I guess we could see what else there is?” Uraraka asked.

Tokoyami sighed.

“What?”

“This place is jarringly mundane,” he lamented. “I was imagining a kitsune, especially a nine-tailed one, would have a more interesting lair.”

She shrugged. “I mean, we’ve only seen this room so far - who’s to say they’ll all be like this? There’s two doors out of here, after all.”

“I don’t want to risk breaking what little hope I have left,” he said, laying his head on the table.

Rolling her eyes, she strode over to one of the doors. “Come on, you’re being ridiculous.”

She opened it.

Through the doorway, she saw the same apartment room she was about to leave, complete with Tokoyami moping at the table and herself at the far door, facing away.

She turned her head. The door on the opposite side of the room had opened, and she was about to walk through it. She had turned her head away to look back into the room she was about to leave.

She closed the door and walked back to the table.

“So leaving the room’s a bust.”

* * *

Sighing, Reiko leaned against the wall. After all her careful planning, her schemes had come to naught, and she was once again confronted with her own powerlessness. Despite everything she had done, all the magic she had learned, someone had still died facing a youkai. If she had been a little bit faster, a little bit stronger, if she had been able to do anything to stop Elis at the summer camp, things wouldn’t have turned out this way.

How could she call herself a hero when she couldn’t even do anything in the exact situation she had been training to prevent?

And now, her attempt at making things right had failed miserably.

She just hoped Tokoyami’s plan worked - it was all they had now.

“Thy intrusions are unnecessary!”

Reiko flinched at the voice that echoed down the halls. She knew that flowery-yet-archaic mangling of the language - Mononobe no Futo, another member of the Taoist group whose peculiar way of speaking was a headache to deal with at the best of times and whose favored response to things that scared her was to try to burn them.

And as fate would have it, it sounded like the little arsonist was headed her way.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, bracing herself.

“Prithee,” Futo’s voice continued, pleading with some unknown intruder, “had thee wished to convey a missive, ‘twould have been a simple enough task with which to entrust me!”

_ You’ve got to be joking me, _ Reiko thought as the assault on the Japanese language continued.  _ She’s heading this way? Do they need Seiga for something? _

“This trespass is most unwelcome, truly! If thou wouldst afford me an explanatio- oh, Miss Yanagi! Thou hast seen fit to grace us with your presence this fine day?”

With no other choice, Reiko opened her eyes, doomed to a conversation.

Her vision was completely filled by the shape of Yakumo Ran, staring down at her with a considerable height advantage.

“Lady Ran hath intruded upon our hallowed grounds,” Futo rather unhelpfully supplied, fully hidden by the kitsune’s tails. “So far, mine attempts to divine her purpose hath been singularly unsuccessful. She doth not seek the Crown Prince, else she would have simply-”

“Miss Yanagi Reiko,” Ran stated. “My Lady Yukari requests your presence.”

Reiko’s response was more a strangled ‘eep’ than an actual reply. She immediately began drawing up the spell circle for her escape spell, as quickly as she could.

Ran was faster.

* * *

Mamizou was hesitant to step through the gap Yukari opened, fearful of what she might find on the other side. Yukari was unpredictable at the best of times, and spitefully vindictive at the worst. She could only hope for the best. 

Taking the guise of ‘Midoriya Hisashi’, She stepped through.

* * *

The first thing that greeted Mamizou’s ears was the excitable voice of a young youkai.

Much to the tanuki’s relief, Inko appeared to be unharmed. She was sitting at a kotatsu next to a brown-haired young girl with two cat tails extending from beneath a simple red dress. Cat ears emerged from under a green mob cap. Apparently, Ran had left her shikigami Chen to keep the woman company, and the bakeneko was happily holding up a rather rotund British Shorthair cat.

“An’ this one’s Kumo,” Chen was saying. “He likes to lay in the sun and get his head pat. He’s been grumpy lately, though, since I haven’t been giving him as much fish as I normally do.”

With a faux whisper, she added, “He’s on a diet.”

Finally working up the courage to announce her presence, Mamizou coughed lightly. Both Inko and Chen’s heads turned to see who had made the noise. Inko’s face lit up immediately at the sight of her husband, and she threw her arms wide for a tearful reunion.

“Hisashi! What are you doing here? I was so worried - both about you, and Izuku, and - I- I tried to get in touch with you after All Might’s fight, since Izuku wasn’t picking up, and then this woman came to the house and took me here, and I’ve been trying to ask about your for hours but all Chen’s been doing is showing me her cats and she’s gotta have at least three dozen and that doesn’t answer any of my questions-”

Still sitting by the kotatsu, Chen pouted and hugged Kumo closely to herself.

“There, there,” Mamizou reassured her, “it’s okay now - I know everything over the past day or so must have been very confusing, but everything’s turned out fine. Izuku’s okay, he’s safe, and I’m here now.”

Regaining her composure a little, Inko blinked back a few tears before looking around. “Where  _ is _ Izuku, anyways?”

“What? He’s right-”

Izuku wasn’t there, though the gap she had arrived through was still open. Either Yukari was holding him up or she had specifically arranged for him to arrive later despite them entering the portal in close succession.

“Yukari said to make sure you two get everything on the table first,” slurred an unmistakable drunken voice.

“Oh,  _ no _ ,” Mamizou muttered.

A faint mist in the room, nearly too thin to detect, suddenly rapidly deepened until a dense fog obscured everything. The vapors then coalesced into the form of Suika, who promptly offered a handshake to Inko.

“Ibuki Suika, Oni and Deva of the Mountain, at your service, Mrs. Midoriya,” she slurred.

Inko scrunched her nose up slightly at the stench of alcohol coming off of the diminutive Oni, but politely took the offered handshake.

“And who’s this?” Suika continued, absolutely overacting her faux confusion. “I don’t believe we’ve ever met before!”

“Suika I swear to all the kami…” Mamizou grumbled as quietly as she could.

“I gave my name,” Suika pressed. “It’s only polite to give yours too.”

“...Midoriya Hisashi.”

The oni grinned. “Bullshit.”

Inko seemed taken aback. “But that is Hisashi - he’s been my husband for nearly twenty years now, and even if we don’t spend as much time together as we used to, I can still recognize his mannerisms-”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s the person you married,” Suika said, waving off Inko’s objections, “But  _ she _ is lying about her name, gender, what she is…”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mamizou lied.

Suika glared at the disguised tanuki. Then, she grinned, and raised one hand.

“Oh no… don’t you  _ dare _ , Suika…”

“Oni hate lies,” she replied.

With a wave of her hand, Mamizou’s disguise magic was dispersed, leaving the tanuki standing there in her true form. Inko’s hands rose to her mouth in shock.

“Welp, my job’s done,” Suika said, already making her way back through the portal. “Gonna go back to my little slice of heaven and party. These stuffy meetings don’t suit me.”

And with that, the Oni vanished into the gap.

“Is it… is it true?” Inko asked quietly. “Is this your true form?”

“Yeah,” Mamizou admitted. “It is.”

A slap rang out through the room, though Mamizou hardly felt its effects. She was torn between emotions - devastation, that the woman she loved had reacted so forcefully as to strike her, and amusement, at the very idea of a human feeling comfortable enough around a youkai to slap them. She slowly sat down, feeling weak at the knees.

_ Rejected, just like I always fear- _

To her surprise, Inko then joined her on the floor, resting on her tail almost like one would lay on a pillow. It was… nice.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.

“What?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Inko repeated. “Why did you feel like you needed to hide who you were, to pretend to be someone you weren’t?”

“...I was afraid,” Mamizou admitted. “I’ve lived for centuries, and for most of my life humans and youkai didn’t get along. We scare humans, humans hunt us, the cycle goes on and on. I was afraid you’d just treat me like a monster, like every other human does.”

“Well, not  _ every _ human,” she replied.

Mamizou raised an eyebrow.

“You’re Danzaburou, aren’t you? The Tanuki who was enshrined as Futatsuiwa-Daimyojin. That’s why I found you at the shrine - your shrine.”

“Yeah, I was - though I go by ‘Futatsuiwa Mamizou’ nowadays.”

“Mamizou,” Inko repeated. “It’s a nice name - a lot nicer than ‘Hisashi’.”

“Oh come on,” Mamizou laughed, “You never had a problem with Hisashi before!”

“That was when I thought it was a real name!” She responded, joining her wife in laughter. “But knowing it’s an alias - seriously? ‘Hisashi’, like ‘hisashiburi’, ‘been a while’? And then you disappear on us for nearly 14 years? Were you planning that?”

Mamizou’s reply was instantaneous and firm. “No. Never. I never wanted to leave you two alone.”

“Then why did you? Why only come back into our lives now, why spend so long just sending letters?”

“I was dying.”

Inko went quiet. Mamizou continued.

“Youkai like me or Izuku need Belief to exist. Whether that’s in a more general sense of ‘people think bakedanuki are a thing that exist’ or a more specific sense of ‘people fear Danzaburou-Danuki’ or ‘people worship Futatsuiwa-Daimyojin’, we can’t live unless people think we do. And people in the Outside World just don’t believe in old folk stories any more. At least, not enough of them to count.”

“...I thought it was something like that,” Inko replied, making Mamizou sit up a little straighter - though not so suddenly or forcefully as to dislodge her wife from her tail.

“What? No you didn’t. You didn’t even know I was a youkai until just now.”

“Maybe not a youkai, but I started to realize you weren’t human,” she explained. “When Izuku got his Quirk-”

“Ability,” Mamizou corrected. “It’s different from a Quirk - comes in later, has different traits, most Youkai have ‘em. Even a few humans do, but that’s rare.”

“Alright, his Ability. Anyways, when he got his Ability, it got me wondering. He started wearing that amulet all over the place, never taking it off or letting it out of his sight. Then you show back up out of the blue to go to the Sports Festival with me and you just seemed… healthier, somehow.”

“Healthier?”

“When I first met you at your shrine, all those years ago, you seemed defeated, somehow. Like you were just looking for a place to die. It’s why I helped you - I couldn’t just leave you there. And after the Sports Festival, I started thinking back on all the time I spent with you - how you didn’t have any form of identification at first and were confused when I asked where you were staying, how you always knew all the folklore wherever we went while touring Japan, how you never wanted to see the foxes when we went to the zoo…”

Mamizou rubbed her head sheepishly “yeah, that last bit might have been a bit obvious in retrospect.”

“I eventually decided you were probably a messenger for Futatsuiwa-Daimyojin, and devoted our household shrine accordingly.”

Mamizou snorted. “A god with a shrine to themselves in their own living room - what would the other gods say? Eh, they’d probably just turn their noses up at me because I never got that many worshippers.”

“I was so close,” Inko laughed.

They were silent for a moment, before Mamizou asked something that had been on her mind for a bit.

“And you’re okay with this? Like, all of this?”

She gestured to herself.

“What, that you’re a tanuki, or that you’re a woman?”

“Eh… both?”

“I fell in love with  _ you _ , Mamizou, not with what you looked like. And I’m sure the same goes for you, too.”

Mamizou nodded. “Only person I ever fell in love with, Human or Youkai.”

“Besides,” Inko added, chuckling, “I think you look better this way, honestly - ‘Hisashi’ wasn’t exactly the easiest on the eyes.”

This earned her a playful swat from Mamizou.

* * *

Reiko was 10 again, weak and helpless in a forest full of monsters that wanted her dead in a world where humans weren’t welcome. Her only protector, a lost Hero who looked like he had come straight out of a fairy tale, clad in gold-and-silver armor and wielding an ornate sword and shield. 

Idealist, the Paladin Hero. His Quirk, Perfectionist, allowed him to perform any action he was physically capable of to perfection, whether that was defending, attacking, or simply maintaining his equipment and using his sword to shave in the absence of more fitting tools. He had been using it to great effect during their time together, keeping his black hair impeccably trimmed and combed while staying clean-shaven with not a single speck of stubble.

As they walked through the forest, his hand drifted to his sword’s hilt.

_ Reiko knew very well what was about to happen. It had been seared into her mind. _

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

_ Yukari had a sick sense of humor, it seemed. _

Idealist seemed to wrestle with himself for a moment before answering. “It’s too quiet, little Yanagi. There hasn’t been a single chirping bird or howling wolf for the past half hour.”

“Maybe you finally scared them off?”

_ No he didn’t, Reiko thought, a spectator in her own memories. _

The wolves had been a near constant harassment since they started wandering the forest trying to find their way out. He had repelled them without issue each time.

“...Yeah,” he said at last, offering her a weak smile. “Yeah, maybe I did.”

_ That smile had assured her at the time, but now she could see the unease in it. _

“Now, now,” a woman’s voice called out. “That simply won’t do.”

Yukari walked out from behind a tree with a casual ease that belied how dangerous she was.

“Humans have to fear Youkai, after all,” she explained.

“Yanagi,” Idealist urged, “get behind me.”

As she did so, he drew his weapons.

“So confident!” Yukari laughed. “Do you really think you can protect her? You’re not even in the top ten of the Hero ranking.”

“If I can do something, anything to protect this girl, I will - that’s what Heroes do.”

“Self-sacrifice is only worthwhile if you can actually change something,” Yukari sighed. “Something far too few humans seem to understand.”

Idealist surged forward, running with perfect form and baiting Yukari’s defense out with a perfect feint before abruptly changing to a thrust with his hilt.

He struck true, slamming the base of his sword into her face with precisely enough force to knock someone out without the risk of permanent damage - in the absence of any defensive quirks, of course.

She barely budged.

Utterly unconcerned, Yukari sighed. “This is why I leave the fighting to Ran most of the time - there’s no  _ challenge _ in it.”

A flash of movement in his peripheral vision, and he leapt back just in time as a stop sign came shooting into the space where he had been standing, the air whistling from the speed of its movement as it extended from a gap in space.

So she had some sort of spatial distortion quirk, then. It made sense - she was probably the Villain behind Reiko’s disappearance.

Then, if Idealist beat her, would they be able to go home?

Reiko stood transfixed as the two continued to duel, Hero against Villain, Man against Monster.

The Paladin Hero kept up a dizzying array of strikes with nearly inhuman speed and precision, yet Yukari kept up with it with ease - as she dodged and weaved around each slash, she never once gave the impression that she was just barely keeping up, yet neither did she seem to be the faster of the two. She seemed to dance just on the very edge of being faster, as though she was teasing him rather than taking the battle seriously.

Something proved beyond any doubt when she  _ did _ decide to take it seriously.

In a flash, she disappeared into a gap in space, reappearing nearly twenty meters away - far enough that he couldn’t close the gap immediately. She motioned, pointing her closed folding fan at him as he braced his shield to guard against whatever attack she was using.

In a single instant, the shield shattered like a porcelain plate, something punched through the front of his breastplate, something punched through his chest, and something punched out the back of his breastplate.

“Infinite Superspeed Flying Object,” Yukari said, almost as an afterthought.

Idealist coughed up blood - his lung had been punctured. He gripped his sword tightly with both hands, fully intending to go down fighting.

“Yanagi,” he managed, weakly, “Run.”

Reiko turned and ran.

For what seemed like an eternity, Reiko flew through the forest, high enough to avoid any bushes yet low enough to stay clear of the branches, until, finally, in a distinct departure from what had happened that day, a gap opened in space to swallow her whole.

* * *

Reiko, now fifteen again, went sprawling across a floor of tatami mats, sliding a short distance and striking a table leg head-first. She scrambled to her feet as fast as she could, readying any spell that came to mind for her own defense.

She conjured up her runes just in time, as Yukari emerged from a void in space, Reiko’s nightmares brought to life in the space of a small, traditionally furnished room.

“Long time no see, Miss Yanagi,” the Youkai of Boundaries said calmly, a teasing smile on her face. “Have you been enjoying your visits to Gensokyo?”

Reiko’s lip trembled - it was taking every ounce of willpower she had not to simply flee in a blind panic. Every ounce of willpower, as well as consciously reminding herself that she was almost certainly in Yukari’s enigmatic lair and thus that running would be useless.

“What do you want, monster?” she spat.

“Why, can’t I simply check in on one of my favorite guests? I’ve afforded you very special treatment over the years, after all - I’d have thought you’d be more grateful.”

“‘Guest’ is a strong word for a kidnapping victim.”

“Oh, of course you’d think so - I’m the evil, spooky ‘Mastermind Behind the Spiritings Away’, after all. Everyone who vanishes to Gensokyo is because of me.”

“You’re saying that they don’t?” Reiko asked, forcing herself to keep calm. “That people vanish into Gensokyo without your input, and that my disappearance was just me being unlucky?”

“Of course not,” Yukari replied. “I’m saying that you haven’t considered what that  _ means _ . Or, tell me - did you think it was a  _ coincidence _ that I happened to place Idealist in just the right place for you to find him? That it was a  _ mistake _ that I happened to provide you with someone strong enough to protect you until you could make your way to safer terrain and find Seiga Kaku?”

Reiko paled, trembling with rage.  _ Easy _ , she reminded herself. The runes had to be perfect.

“If you want more proof, how about this - finish that escape spell you’ve been crafting under your robes where you think I won’t notice it. You have my word that I won’t do a thing to interfere with its functionality.”

She froze. Then, a confident grin spread across her face - Yukari was underestimating her. She’d cast this spell dozens of times before. She knew it would work without the youkai’s interference. The moment it was complete, she double, triple, quadruple-checked the runes, then cast.

A faint ‘ping’ emanated from the air itself, as though someone had received a text message.

Yukari opened a gap in space, glanced at it, smiled, and turned it to face Reiko.

“It seems someone’s looking for my attention,” she said.

Through the gap, Reiko was clearly visible.

“Seiga never cast that spell - it was purely theory, and it assumes the Gensokyo barrier is weaker than it is,” she explained with a sadistic smirk. “All that spell does is let me know that someone’s trying to interfere with the barrier. For years now, all you’ve been doing is simply asking me to spirit you away to Gensokyo or spit you back into the Outside World, and I’ve happily obliged you, my favorite guest.”

Reiko sank to her knees in despair. “No…”

“You’ve made for wonderful entertainment over the years,  _ Reiko _ ,” Yukari said, emphasizing Reiko’s name as a way of underlining just how vast the power difference between them was. “If you’re feeling up to it, you’re welcome to follow me to discuss the status of one Midoriya Izuku. I promise this will be some news you’re hoping to hear, at least.”

* * *

“Firstly, I believe congratulations are in order,” Yukari stated. “Mrs. Midoriya and Mrs. Futatsuiwa, I am pleased to inform you that your son has finally grown into his nature as a Youkai.”

“Half-Youkai,” Mamizou and Uraraka corrected simultaneously.

“Until recently, you’d have been correct,” she replied. “However, recent events have ensured that this is no longer the case.”

“Sariel,” Uraraka stated.

“Indeed. The Angel of Death, as some in Makai call them, is exceedingly lethal. While Mr. Midoriya did the best he could under the circumstances, it just so happened that under those particular circumstances, ‘the best he could do’ was, quite simply, to die.”

“But I’m not dead,” Izuku pointed out. “Nor am I a ghost.”

“Well observed - you have my intervention to thank for that. The Bunbunmaru Newspaper, after some arm-twisting, rushed out a special edition reporting on sightings of a mysterious green-haired youkai spotted in Gensokyo’s most outlying regions.”

“You made the newspaper into a youma book for him,” Mamizou realized. “Kosuzu’s been stocking the Bunbunmaru - the villagers would have seen the article and read it, and with their belief that article would’ve caused-”

“The revival of a Youkai,” Yukari said, smiling. “Or, more precisely, the creation of a new Youkai, as Izuku’s human half was unable to enjoy this resurrection.”

“He’s no longer part human?” Reiko asked, breaking her silence at last.

“No more than I am,” she replied. “On top of that, there is the severe issue of his Ability.”

“What about it?” Mamizou asked.

“It’s not Object Transformation,” Izuku explained. “It’s Manipulation of Change.”

“What a monstrous power,” Tokoyami muttered, earning an annoyed look from Uraraka.

“Ah, a conceptual power,” Mamizou sighed. “That’s gonna be a headache, all right.”

“What does that mean?” Inko asked.

“Simply put,” Yukari explained, “It means that his Ability has more applications than just physical. That he could change details like what season it is, rather than simply being limited to transforming physical objects he touches. He’s already used it to teleport himself by changing his location.” 

“So that’s how he did it,” Reiko muttered.

“Naturally, it goes without saying that Izuku will not be permitted to leave Gensokyo until I feel he has sufficient control over his Ability.”

Uraraka was taken aback. “What? But school starts back up again at the beginning of September! That’s barely two weeks from now!”

“I can assure you that any problems that may arise from a late return to the Outside World pale in comparison to those that would be caused by careless use of a conceptual Ability.”

“Midoriya hasn’t caused any problems so far,” Tokoyami pointed out.

“Until now, he’s been limited by an incorrect understanding of what his Ability does, drawing upon its true power only unconsciously.”

“So?”

Yukari sighed before adopting a tone like she was explaining something to a child. “Consider my Manipulation of Boundaries. It’s an extremely powerful Ability with very few weak points and nearly limitless applications for it. If I so desired, I could easily do something like alter someone’s eye color, or heal them - the very fact that a concept of ‘injured’ exists allows me to simply shift someone back across that boundary to ‘uninjured’.”

Tokoyami nodded, following along with her explanation.

“However, it is just as easy for me to maim or kill someone - easier, even. What is skin but a boundary shielding your body from the ravages of the world? What are the surfaces of your organs but boundaries that keep the important components together and functional? Carefully manipulating a conceptual boundary to modify something is far more delicate and precise a task than simply taking a physical boundary and tearing it to pieces - that I have mastery over my Ability does nothing to change that simple fact.”

Izuku was silent as Yukari’s statement sank in. The ease with which he could modify inanimate objects, whether it was turning solid stone to nothing but dust or make glass ornaments out of mere paper, was no longer a comforting reminder of how far his control over his Ability had come.

Now, it was only a sobering reminder that he was just adept enough with it to be a massive danger to everyone around him.

“Even if he were to focus on beneficial applications,” she continued, “a clumsy application of his powers will do more harm than good. This may make little sense to you, but his Ability is more concrete than my own. He cannot simply change someone to being healthy - he would need to understand the condition their body should be in, and carefully reconstruct it. For his teleportation, he needs to have a clear idea of where - and when - he will end up.”

“When?” Tokoyami asked.

“Of course,” Yukari replied. “After all, relativity demands that the laws of physics remain identical for all inertial systems while the speed of light in a vacuum is the same for all observers. Logically, this would require that space and time are a single four-dimensional continuum, rather than two distinct ones of three and one dimension respectively. In essence, when I link ‘Here’ and ‘There’ I am also connecting ‘Now’ with itself, and when Izuku teleports, he is transferring himself to the proper destination in all four dimensions, though he enjoys the advantage that he will unconsciously default to the same time for both arrival and departure.”

“That being said,” she added, making eye contact with Izuku, “Even if it’s strictly possible for you, I would advise you not to attempt any time travel. Navigating the ‘time’ portion of the continuum poses its own unique dangers, and you don’t want to have to spend thousands of years taking the long way back to the present.”

Izuku shuddered - he didn’t want to imagine what that ordeal might do to his mental state or personality.

“This is non-negotiable,” Yukari stated firmly. “I will be happy to train Izuku if he so desires, but he needs training from  _ someone _ to learn how to use his Ability properly. Otherwise, people will die.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Futo's faux-ye olde english speech was fun, but obnoxious.
> 
> This is... not a good chapter for Reiko. Yukari had already made it clear she was toying with the poor girl, and it's about time she was finally let in on the loop.


	42. Peaceful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Training begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Good Ending theme of Lotus Land Story - a nice, calm theme for part of a breather while our heroes build up strength.

Yukari left them to their own devices after stating her ultimatum, disappearing to another part of her home - where, it wasn’t clear, since the room seen when Chen came back through the same exact doorway was entirely different than the one Yukari had withdrawn to.

“I think Miss Yakumo’s offer is fair,” Inko said. “She seems knowledgeable enough - what do you think, Mamizou?”

“Absolutely not,” Mamizou replied. “There’s no way we can trust her. I don’t know if it’s because of her Ability, or just the way she is, but Yukari’s always been the sort who likes to use the truth to lie. She was like that back in the day, she’s like that now.”

“You knew her, then?”

“Only by reputation, but with Youkai, reputation is more than enough.”

“So you’re not trustworthy, then?” Inko teased. “Because I can think of a number of myths that say you’re not trustworthy.”

“Wait, myths?” Tokoyami asked. “You’ve got actual myths about you?”

“Not the time, kid,” Mamizou replied. “Look, Inko, I want Izuku to learn to use his Ability properly just as much as you do. He wants to live in the Outside World, where he was born and raised, and I don’t want to get in the way of that. But Yukari - the only thing you can be sure of with her is that she’s got some goal in mind. The worst you’ve seen of her is that she whisked you away without any explanation why. The worst that Youkai have seen of her...”

The tanuki sighed, the scent of mixed alcohol and tobacco clear on her breath. “She started a  _ war _ , Inko. A war between Youkai and the Lunarians, one we lost badly, and nobody ever figured out what she wanted out of it.”

“Lunarians? As in-”

“Yes, as in people who live on the moon,” Mamizou snapped irritably, glaring at Tokoyami. “Look, I know you’re one of Izuku’s friends, and I’ll be happy to answer all the questions you have later, but first we need to figure out what’s happening here.”

“Do you even have a choice?” Reiko asked. “We’re in whatever pocket dimension she reserves for herself, after all. She’s just holding us here until you agree to do what she wants.”

“Lady Yukari has no intention of gaining your cooperation under duress,” Ran interrupted, making everyone but Mamizou jump as she emerged silently from a gap in space. “I have been instructed to return you all to Gensokyo proper, should you decide to pursue an alternative instructor for Izuku. However, she was quite clear that you need to have a satisfactory alternative before I do so. In the meantime, I am to provide you with any refreshments you should desire. If I am correct, I imagine that Miss Uraraka would like several servings of Mochi, Mister Tokoyami would like a single cup of black coffee with nothing added to it, Mrs. Midoriya would like green tea, and Mrs. Futatsuiwa and Miss Reiko will both pass, for reasons of having their own drink and not having any appetite respectively?”

“Your discount satori act gets old real quick,” Mamizou huffed.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ran replied. “I simply took into account what I know of each individual’s personality and their respective appetites, and weighed those against the amount of time since their last meal.”

“Just go get the fo-”

“That would be lovely,” Inko replied, interrupting the tanuki before she could throw an insult the kitsune’s way. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

As Ran disappeared back into the gap, Inko lightly chided her wife. “While we’re in their home, the least we could do is be polite.”

“Don’t see what the point of that is when we’re going to turn them down,” Mamizou grumbled. “We don’t need Yukari’s help, and I’d like to avoid being indebted to her unless it’s strictly necessary.”

“About that,” Izuku said, finally breaking his silence. “I’ve been thinking, and… is there anyone you have who’d actually be a good teacher for me? Nobody at the temple really has a conceptual power, unless I’m mistaken.”

Mamizou was silent for a long moment. “Eirin would probably be able to teach you,” she offered, knowing full well what the conclusion would be.

“But would she be willing to?” Uraraka wondered. “Eientei’s independent and Reisen’s only been able to train us in her spare time. I don’t think you’d have the leverage to get Miss Yagokoro to help.”

“Yeah, it was a long shot,” Mamizou admitted. “I just don’t trust Yukari with this. She’s up to something, mark my words.”

“I know,” Izuku agreed. “She’s already tried to trick me. But I can’t just let this opportunity pass me by - she’s the most powerful conceptual Ability user I know of, and she’s offering to train me. You yourself just said she uses the truth to lie - we can at least trust that she’s going to teach me properly, even if her goals in doing so go beyond what she says they are.”

“Watch her like a hawk,” Reiko warned, looking Mamizou dead in the eye.

“Was already planning to,” the tanuki replied.

* * *

Soon enough, Izuku found himself in a nondescript forest clearing buried deep within the Forest of Magic. Lacking even such mundanities as a fallen log, the clearing would have been completely unworthy of note if not for the presence of both Mamizou and Yukari.

“I’ve selected this as our training ground for one simple reason,” Yukari stated, reclining, as she so often did, in a tear in space. “It’s remote. I can throw up a barrier around this clearing and nobody will notice - save, possibly, for the fairies, who will consider it more a curiosity than anything to worry about.”

“The witches?” Mamizou asked pointedly.

“Alice knows to keep to herself, and Marisa is busy with more pressing matters,” Yukari replied. “Now then, Izuku, before we begin, I’d like to ask you something. You’ve developed a technique for using your Ability for defense. What, exactly, are you doing?”

It seemed like an odd question - shrouding himself in his Ability had been one of the first times he’d really felt like he’d made an actual breakthrough with his power. 

“I’m using it as a defensive layer,” he said, slowly, unsure of the answer she was looking for. “I create a field around me that I use to change objects as they reach me but before they can cause harm.”

Yukari  _ hmm _ ed for a moment before raising one hand and lightly tossing a rock his way. Rather than flinch, he reflexively created his defensive field, allowing the rock to wash off him as water. She tossed another, which met with the same result. Then a third. And a fourth. And a fifth.

Just as it seemed Mamizou was about to lose patience with the slow process, and just as Izuku himself was about to ask what she was trying to do, a sudden impact to his gut knocked the wind out of him. He doubled over, gasping for breath, as a gap opened at his feet - now in front of his face - and blinding light shone through, robbing him of his vision. His concentration now thoroughly ruined, his defensive shroud faltered, allowing something that felt very much like a closed parasol to strike him upside the head.

“You have too much confidence in your defensive capabilities,” Yukari concluded. “You’re transforming physical items that approach you, nothing more. Air, light - you unconsciously allow these through as a necessity. You need light to see, you need air to breathe, so you don’t change these. How would you handle someone like that laser-firing classmate of yours, or someone like that Vigilante over in Naruhata who shoots air blasts?”

“I- the lightning-” Izuku panted, still gasping for air.

“Take your time,” she replied, sounding very amused at his misfortune. “It’s more important to arrive at the right answer, not the fastest one.”

“YuugenMagan’s lightning,” he finally managed, lifting his head to look her right in the eyes. “I deflected that.”

“An excellent point,” Yukari admitted. “But can you replicate that little trick yet?”

He returned to looking at the ground. No, he could not. Even if he knew  _ what _ he had done - changed the bolt’s path - he didn’t know  _ how _ .

“Now, if you could direct your attention this way…”

He looked up again. What appeared to be a department store mannequin had been deposited into the clearing, still adorned in jeans and a sweatshirt.

“Imagine that this dummy is an enemy,” Yukari instructed him. “I want you to strike it as best you can.”

A simple enough test, as before - he wondered how he’d fail this time. He shot forward from his standing position like a rocket, the quick, efficient motions Byakuren had taught him long since drilled into his muscle memory. He put his hand through the mannequin’s torso with no difficulty at all.

Without even commenting on his performance, Yukari snapped her fingers, and another mannequin appeared in the same place he had been standing earlier. 

“This time, don’t leave your place,” she told him.

Obliging her request, he reached for one of the faux promissory notes his costume had before pausing. Like before, she was trying to get him to think about the wider ramifications of his Ability. What he had thought were his limits no longer applied, and his new limits had yet to be felt out - he could teleport by changing his own location, as nonsensical as it may once have seemed!

So, instead of grabbing and transforming a piece of paper, he grasped at the air itself, willing the gaseous substance to twist to his desire. The result was simple yet effective - a long spear he used to poke at the dummy from afar.

Yukari simply snapped her fingers again, and the spear disappeared. “Again - and this time, I want you to avoid changing the physical form of anything around you.”

He was taken aback by the request for just a moment before the analytical part of his mind kicked in. There were more ways to attack than with solid objects - she had demonstrated as such mere moments ago when she had blinded him and attacked him with the air itself. During his brief duel with Ran, he had managed to launch one of the kitsune’s projectiles back at her by imparting force on it, this was just the same principle applied to the air itself. He just had to focus, to imagine a discrete pellet of air in his hands for him to use his Ability on, and…

The wind bullet shot out sideways, kicking up dirt as it landed in the clearing’s floor nowhere near its intended target.

“You seem to have gotten some idea of what I was looking for,” Yukari said, for once smiling at his accomplishment rather than his failure. “For now, I want you to practice that until it’s reflexive for you, and until you can reliably hit a target from at least twenty yards.”

“You just wanted him to create a basic projectile?” Mamizou asked skeptically as she watched Izuku begin practicing his newly-developed air bullets..

“Above all, my goal is to protect Gensokyo’s stability,” Yukari replied. “I can’t have  _ any _ youkai with a conceptual power simply wandering the place without the ability to fight in Spell Card duels, let alone a fledgling with little control of his Ability. Once I believe he is proficient enough in this, I’ll move on to more specialized uses, but this - this is essential for life in Gensokyo, and I would strongly advise that you find someone to teach your son’s friends how to use Spell Cards as well, before they run into someone who’d be happy to snag a free meal.”

* * *

“So you were once sealed away in Makai?” Tokoyami asked, hardly able to believe his ears. He was so focused on this that he didn’t seem to notice the hostility radiating from the other members of the Myouren temple. Byakuren, the picture of calm, gave a simple nod and a reassuring smile meant more to put her disciples at ease than anything else.

“Indeed I was,” she replied. “I spent, oh, it has to have been more than a millennia that I was there.”

“What’s it like?” He pressed, eagerly. “Does it rain fire? Are there lakes of blood and mountains of needles?”

“You’re thinking of hell,” she assured him. “And even the hells have fewer of those than the stories would have you believe - budget cuts, or so I’ve been told. Makai itself is a lovely realm, not entirely dissimilar to Gensokyo itself, and is home to some of the most delightful people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. They were all very good to me, and treated me exceptionally well for my entire stay there, from the moment of my banishment up until my followers rescued me.”

“I… I see.”

“You seem unsatisfied by my answer, somehow.”

“It’s just…” He sighed. “I have a journal that’s been passed down in my family - it belonged to one of my ancestors, a swordswoman who went on a few youkai hunts in her time, back around the tenth century. I’ve always been fascinated with myth as a result of that, and I would read all the stories and imagine myself as the hero - the wandering exorcist banishing the spirits of the night, the lone samurai striking the specter that dared strike at him, a brave archer felling his target with a single arrow-”

Though Tokoyami didn’t notice it, one of the apprentice monks, a nondescript man in a plain, simple robe, twitched at the mention of archery and youkaislaying.

“-but now I finally encounter youkai, and you’re all… pleasant? I guess? It’s a weird thing to be concerned about, I know, but-”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Byakuren reassured him. “You’ve grown up hearing nothing but stories that represent youkai as monsters, not people. After believing for so long that things were simply black and white between humans and youkai, you’re realizing everything isn’t quite that simple. You’re likely wondering not how many monsters your ancestor killed, but how many  _ people _ she killed.”

Tokoyami shook his head.

“Really?” Byakuren asked, seeming genuinely shocked. “But you don’t seem to have”

“I thought you’d seem more… mystical, or something? I guess?” He asked. 

“Ha!” the nondescript apprentice monk laughed. “You’re just seeing youkai up close! All those stories about impressive and cunning Futatsuiwa-Daimyojin go out the window once you’ve actually met her and watched an oni drink her under the table!”

“You’ve met Futatsuiwa-Daimyojin?” Tokoyami asked, eyes widening. “As in, Danzaburou-Danuki, boss of the Tanuki on Sado?”

“Of course I have!” the man replied. “And I know for a fact you have too!”

Tokoyami raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure I’d have known if I had met that influential a youkai.”

The unidentified man leaned in close and whispered into Tokoyami’s ear.

* * *

Mamizou’s ear twitched, finely tuned senses picking out a distant shriek.

“Is there a problem?” Yukari asked.

“...Nothing immediate,” the tanuki replied. “Though I’m going to kick Nue’s ass later.”

Shrugging, the gap youkai turned her attention back to Izuku. Over the course of a few hours, he had gotten his rate of fire up to about one air bullet per second with a roughly fifty percent accuracy rate against the tree. Nothing impressive, by Gensokyoan standards, but enough that it could reasonably be called an offense.

“You’re doing very well, Izuku,” she called out. “I want you to carefully focus on the feeling of throwing your air bullets, to memorize what it feels like to change something that’s not a concrete physical trait. You’re not modifying what the air is, or what shape it’s in, you’re simply modifying its speed.”

True to her words, there was a distinct ‘feel’ to something’s speed that he could now reliably identify, if not describe. Something that, now that he knew what to look for, he could find. Experimentally, he reached down and grabbed a rock, directing it upwards. It soared neatly into the air and then back down in a tidy arc.

“Now do it to yourself,” Yukari told him.

“You can’t seriously be expecting him to manage-”

Yukari shushed Mamizou with an open hand.

“You understand what you need to change and what it feels like,” she repeated. “So - change your own speed.”

Hesitantly, he probed for the feeling of ‘an object’s speed’ within himself, looking for it. He had changed his own Location, his own Speed should be modifiable as well, certainly. But in contrast to a rock, or a lump of air, a living creature was far more complex. He could sense far more things to change than just speed, many of which were changing on their own as his body undertook biological processes that he never once had needed to think about before. He didn’t dare to try messing with anything without understanding it properly first. Finally, he reached something he recognized. He raised it to what he thought was a reasonable level.

One leg whipped out from underneath him, sending him sprawling to the ground.

“That,” Yukari explained, “was the wrong speed.”

* * *

“Is this really necessary?” Uraraka wondered.

“Of course it is!” Kagerou replied. “You gotta get used to using all your senses in battle, and not just rely on your sight all the time!”

“Yeah, but  _ blindfolding _ me?”

When Uraraka had tracked down Kagerou to ask for some more lessons on how to handle life as a werewolf, she had expected some sparring to get her more used to her physical capabilities, maybe agility training or a hunt.

What she had  _ not _ expected was to be introduced to one of the elder werewolf’s friends - a redhead named Sekibanki who wore a blue bow and a red capelet with an enormous collar - and then told it was time for evasion training.

“Look, I was told I need to teach you how we fight around here before you get yourself into real trouble,” Kagerou told her. “And that starts with dodging - nobody in Gensokyo gets far without being able to dodge real good. Heck, I’ve heard that Reimu can apparently walk through a rainstorm without an umbrella and still be dry when she reaches her destination.”

“Don’t worry,” Sekibanki’s voice called out, coming from a point distinctly higher than Uraraka would have expected. “I’ll be starting this off easy - just one head, so you only need to dodge two eye lasers. All right?”

“Wait, one head? Eye lasers?”

“Oh yeah,” Kagerou replied. “Banki here’s a nukekubi - she can detach her head at will and let it fly around. She’s figured out how to duplicate her head as well, so she can fire from multiple places, too.”

“Wait, but that doesn’t explain the eye las-”

“Begin!”

A faint rustling of fabric as the nukekubi’s disembodied head moved into attack position was all the warning Uraraka got before she felt a stinging pain on her leg.

“Gah!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to comment on this time, other than the fact that this chapter ended up being a bit shorter than usual as I wrestled with how to do training stuff, and more specifically how to describe the sensation of learning to use a power that acts on more abstract things like what location something's at or what its speed is (rather than modifying the speed in an indirect way, i.e. imparting force to the object, strange as it may seem to describe that as 'indirect').


	43. The Young Descendant of Tepes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post-Kamino training continues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 19,200 hits. To think I'm this close to 20,000, a number which would have been unthinkable for me at one point...  
Also, damn, I hinted I was doing something for 10k lmao. That, uh, is more happening "whenever I get it done" at this point. Whoops.
> 
> Chapter title is the stage theme for Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Stage 6. The boss of that stage is, well, the young descendant (note: not an actual descendant) of tepes.

“I’m pleased you seem to be adapting as well as you have,” Byakuren told Inko. “I’ve seen a few outsiders come through from time to time, and they’re usually panicked and fearful - very few are willing to give my temple even a second glance as they hurry for the village.”

“It helps that I’ve known Mamizou for years, even if I didn’t know her by that name,” Inko replied. “I know she won’t cause me or Izuku any harm.”

Byakuren smiled. “She’s a good person, even if she does like to mess with people. As are all of my disciples here at the temple, to be honest.”

“I was actually wondering - how did you come to meet-”

She was interrupted as Uraraka appeared from the forest, exhaustion clear in her eyes even if her body, aided by her supernatural healing, looked none the worse for wear.

“Your wife and son should be done training soon too, I imagine. I’ll prepare dinner for everyone.”

“I’ll help,” Inko offered, but Byakuren shook her head.

“You’re my guest at the temple,” she explained. “I would be remiss in my duty of hospitality if I were to make you prepare your own meal.”

“On the other hand,” Inko replied, meeting Byakuren’s gaze, “I am your guest - it’s the least I can do to show my thanks for your hospitality.”

After a moment of this standoff, Byakuren smiled and relented.

* * *

The meal was vegetarian - Byakuren, ever the devout Buddhist, never drank or ate meat. The same could not be said for her disciples, however. While Izuku wasn’t quite sure if the tiger youkai Shou, born from the imagination of people who had only heard of the giant cats before, had the same near-strictly-carnivorous dietary requirements as her inspiration, he was sure she wouldn’t be sneaking bites from something she was hiding under the table if it was vegetarian-friendly. Uraraka’s nose twitching in response to some faint scent was only further confirmation of this.

“So,” the monk asked, “how was everyone’s day?”

“A bit weird,” Uraraka admitted. “I went and found Miss Imaizumi to ask her to teach me more, and she had me dodge attacks while blindfolded for a few hours.”

“Miss Yakumo helped me figure out how to use my Ability to change the speed of pockets of air as an improvised projectile,” Izuku added.

Tokoyami shrugged. “I just stayed at the temple,” he admitted. “I didn’t do much, but I did hear something interesting.”

Mamizou raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Let’s hear it, then.”

The bird-headed boy’s attention was entirely on her. “Is it true you’re really Danzaburou?” he asked, and Mamizou immediately did her best impression of a deer caught in headlights.

Taking her stunned silence as a confession, he launched into adoration. “There’s countless legends about you! You would fool people by turning leaves to gold and selling them, you would use mirages to mislead people and create walls to block paths at night, you would disguise your lair as a splendid estate to mislead people into thinking they were dealing with a noble… is it true you would transform into a human and visit human doctors for treatment when you were sick?”

“That was a long time ago,” Mamizou firmly stated, fixing a pointed glare on a seemingly-unassuming apprentice monk further down the table who immediately hid his face in his hands in what looked very much like stifled laughter. “I’m a changed tanuki nowadays.”

“What about your rivalry with Kitsune, though?” Tokoyami wondered. “You seemed hostile to Miss Ran when we met her.”

“What did she do to kitsune in the stories?” Uraraka asked.

“Oh, there’s two stories specifically about that! In the first, she offered to let a kitsune visit Sado, but only if the kitsune would turn into her zori for the boat trip over. Then, halfway there, she-”

“I don’t do that anymore,” Mamizou insisted. “The old days were a different time, without the Spell Card rules to hold us back.”

“Spell Card rules?” Izuku asked.

Byakuren fixed Mamizou with a distinctly disapproving look. “When you asked me to be Izuku’s instructor in hand-to-hand, I had assumed you would be teaching him other aspects of combat.”

“Yeah,” Murasa chimed in, “Seems sort of irresponsible to me. I mean, he’s been coming here to Gensokyo for how long now? Over a year?”

Mamizou held up her hands in a plea for mercy. “Yeah, yeah, it was naive, I get that now! I didn’t think it was that important at the time - he was going to a hero school in the Outside World, his base Ability and hand-to-hand training should’ve been fine to handle anything they had out there. ...probably.”

“ _ Probably? _ ” Inko hissed.

“Anyways,” Mamizou continued, quickly changing topic back to the original question, “The Spell Card rules are essentially a formalized dueling system we have here. You may have noticed by this point that there’s a lot of heavy hitters here. Just off the top of my head, we have someone who can make material undergo nuclear fusion at will, someone who can cause earthquakes, someone who’s so physically strong they can flatten a forest by shouting-”

“I’m… not sure that’s physical strength?” Tokoyami muttered.

“-and that’s not even getting into Yukari’s usual co-conspirators. Suika’s basically a walking disaster, Yuyuko can tear your soul out with her mind, reality might as well not apply to Yukari, and Ran can do anything Yukari can if she’s following Yukari’s orders. Point is, if the wrong people were to really go at it, things’d go bad,  _ quick _ . So, enter the Spell Card rules. Couple years back, some youkai decide that just applying raw brute force isn’t the answer - they get together and hash out a basic outline for a new system. The gist of it is, we fight nonlethally, and we fight ‘fairly’. For most of us that means using our Abilities to make bullets rather than just making the opponent melt into sludge instantaneously or something, and we make it possible to dodge our attacks - nothing unbeatable allowed. Unless your opponent decides they’re too good for the rules, then the gloves come off and anything goes.”

“So that’s why Miss Imaizumi was teaching me to dodge,” Uraraka realized.

“Yeah, Yukari sorta beat me over the head with the ‘if those kids are sticking around they need to learn the spell card rules’ thing. All of you are going to be learning to fight under those rules so you can stay safe while you’re here.”

Tokoyami’s hand went up.

“Yes, even you. I know you sat around the temple not doing anything all day, your whole stay here won’t be like that, I just need time to get around to you.”

Tokoyami’s hand went down.

* * *

Reiko finally returned to the temple the next morning, finding Mamizou even before anyone else. The elder tanuki was sitting in the graveyard as she so often did, perched on a gravestone and smoking her kiseru as she watched the sun rise.

“What is it?”

Reiko got her surprise under control nearly immediately. Mamizou was an ancient youkai, of course she knew she was there.

“You can travel between Gensokyo and the Outside World, can’t you?”

Mamizou exhaled, tobacco smoke drifting into the early morning air and wafting away with the breeze. “And if I can?”

“Send me back to the Outside World.”

The tanuki looked back at Reiko, meeting her gaze with a flat stare of her own. Just when Reiko was about to explain herself, Mamizou turned away again.

“This is because of Yukari, isn’t it?”

Reiko didn’t reply.

“You probably thought you could transport yerself across the barrier under yer own power, didn’t you? And she revealed that no, yer not powerful enough to do that.”

Still no response.

“You can’t avoid her forever. Even if - that’s  _ if _ \- I transport you outside, you’ll need her to bring you back. I’m not going to waste my time being yer valet.”

“...I know.”

“Good. Long as you understand that.”

A sudden gust of wind picked up around them, shielding the rest of the world from sight as a whirl of dust and leaves surrounded them. Before long, it dissipated, leaving the two of them standing next to a rather smelly dumpster in a dark alley.

“This alley’s close to UA,” Mamizou explained as Reiko looked around. “Should be easy enough for you to get yer bearings - look for a street sign or use yer phone or whatever.”

Sure enough, Reiko found that the alley was barely a ten minute walk from UA. By the time she looked up from her phone to thank Mamizou, the tanuki had disappeared.

* * *

Someone knocked on the doorframe of Tokoyami’s room at the Myouren Temple.

“Tokoyami? It’s Yanagi.”

He turned his head as the gray-haired girl walked into the room and sat down beside him.

“Sorry for vanishing on you the other day - had some stuff to do. How’d you find the temple?”

“Rather mundane,” Tokoyami admitted. “I had certain… notions about youkai coming into this trip that haven’t really borne out.”

“Yeah, well, that’s because the youkai at the temple are all monks,” Reiko snickered. “The worst they do most of the time is sneak a swig of sake when they think Byakuren isn’t looking. But that’s not the only thing that’s bugging you, is it?”

“...no. No it’s not,” he sighed.

“So? Spill.”

He was somewhat surprised by Reiko’s straightforwardness, but put that aside. “I told you about my ancestor, right? The youkai hunter? I’ve been thinking about her, and watching you and Uraraka and Midoriya training, and it’s been making me wonder… am I ever going to be like you, or will I just be a spectator forever? I don’t have magic, or an Ability, or anything. I’ve just got a quirk, and Dark Shadow won’t help against something like Sariel.”

_ ...th… _

Tokoyami didn’t quite catch what she had mumbled. “Hm?”

“I didn’t say anything,” Reiko replied. “I was thinking.”

“Oh.”

After a moment, she sighed. “If you haven’t developed an Ability by now it’s probably not happening, and you can’t use magic without the gift for it - that’s why it died out in the Outside World.”

As he turned his eyes to the ground, she continued.

“That’s not to say you don’t have the gift for it - I genuinely don’t know if you do or not. I know how you can find out, however.”

* * *

“So you’re saying there’s a chance Midoriya won’t be back by the time UA resumes?” Nezu asked, scrutinizing Reiko’s expression closely.

Her face was a mask, betraying no emotion. “He’s alive and in good condition, but his Ability is stronger than we originally thought. His parents both agreed that it would be best for him to stay in Gensokyo until he is better able to control it.”

“I see. His mother is there as well, then?”

She nodded. “Yes, we met up with her shortly after confirming his safety.”

“That works to our advantage, thankfully. It’s much easier to spin this as a student being temporarily pulled by his family for recovery if the mother is similarly unreachable - the natural assumption will be that she’s with him, which is not inaccurate in this scenario. I assume Miss Uraraka and Mister Tokoyami will be back in time for the beginning of the new term?”

Reiko nodded again.

“Excellent. Then I would like to congratulate you on your success, and, further,” he added, his voice taking on an icy tone, “I would like to remind you that if you pull another stunt like that one again then I will have no choice but to expel you. Do you understand?”

She gulped. “Y- yes, sir.”

“Good. Thank you again, you truly were a great help in this situation.”

* * *

Tokoyami was transfixed by the sight before him. An elegant mansion of european design, a good three stories tall not counting the clock tower that rose from its roof, sat on the banks of a massive lake, a beautiful sight even when partially obscured by the morning mist. Reiko led him towards an ornate iron gate.

“You’re sure you don’t want me to carry that for you?” He asked again. 

“No, I’m fine. I won’t need it much longer anyways.”

Before they had left, Reiko had grabbed a large box, carrying it the whole way there without a single complaint. Its contents must not have been very heavy - even with her injured leg, she showed no signs of difficulty with it.

The gate was manned by a guard, a woman with long scarlet hair and blue eyes, wearing a green beret and dress that was nevertheless easy to move in - clearly a martial artist of some sort.

“I’m sorry, but this is private property,” She stated as the duo approached. “I’m afraid I’ll have to turn you away.”

Reiko held up the crate. “I have Miss Knowledge’s delivery here, though.”

Scratching her head for a moment, a look of realization suddenly crossed the guard’s face. “Oh! Patchouli’s print order, of course! Terribly sorry about that, I hadn’t realized that Suzunaan was doing deliveries now - we were going to send Sakuya to pick it up later this week. I can handle that for you, if you’d like.”

Reiko shook her head. “I’m sorry, I need to make sure I get payment. You understand, of course.”

The guard nodded. “Of course, of course. I’ll get out of your way, then. Have a good day, Kosuzu.”

As they made their way onto the manor grounds, Tokoyami gasped at the property’s garden, resplendent with flowers in every color of the rainbow. 

“I didn’t realize all these flowers could bloom at once,” he muttered in awe.

“It’s magic, of course,” Reiko explained. “The resident magician, Patchouli Knowledge, is one of the most learned magicians in Gensokyo, and certainly the most devoted to the study of the art. She makes sure to keep the garden well-stocked with everything she might need for experiments, and one of the other residents ensures they’re always in bloom.”

They made their way into the manor, passing through a grand entrance hall decorated predominantly in red. As they made their way up a wide staircase and down a spacious hallway, Tokoyami found himself thinking that the mansion had to be larger on the inside. The entrance would have taken up at least a quarter of the building otherwise.

As he was reflecting on this, they at last arrived at their destination, an imposing pair of double doors made out of dark wood, meticulously polished and without a single visible flaw. Reiko knocked loudly to let the occupants know they were there, and then led him in, closing the door behind them.

The room was devoid of windows, with only a few tall candelabras to provide dim lighting. As his eyes adjusted to the low light levels, Tokoyami realized it was a throne room - an ornate red-and-gold carpet lay atop a black marble floor and led the viewer’s eye to an ornate golden throne lined with red velvet. The ruler of the mansion was clear - a short young girl, apparently no older than ten, sat on the throne in an easy slouch, wearing a light pink dress whose simplicity contrasted with the gaudiness of the throne itself. A pink mob cap decorated with a red ribbon sat atop her head of short, light blue hair, threatening to topple off as she rested her head on one hand. One of her servants stood at attention nearby, a silver-haired woman in a white and dark blue french maid’s outfit, watching him coldly through gray eyes. 

“Oh?” The girl asked, and even in the dim lighting of the room Tokoyami could see her red eyes, their slitted pupils, and the two prominent fangs her mouth held. “We have a visitor, it seems.”

_ A _ visitor? Tokoyami looked to Reiko, only to find nothing. Frantically, he looked around, only to find that his classmate had vanished entirely.

“Sakuya.”

The maid gave a silent nod, then vanished.

Not even bothering to sit up, the young vampire addressed Tokoyami.

“You’re a brave man, venturing into the heart of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. What’s your name?”

He swallowed, suddenly distinctly more nervous now that he was alone with a powerful youkai who actually played the part. “T- Tokoyami Fumikage.”

“I see… not necessarily the name I would have chosen. Why have you come before me, Fumikage?”

“I’m looking for a, uh, Patchouli Knowledge.” He swallowed before continuing. “I want to learn magic from her.”

“I see,” the vampire said. “You have some magical ability, then?”

“I… I don’t know,” he admitted.

“You  _ are _ aware that if you don’t have any ability with magic, then no amount of teaching will help you, yes?”

“...Yes.”

“On top of that, whether or not Patchy takes you on as an apprentice is her own decision, not mine. The odds are stacked against you here. However…” she smiled, her fangs plainly visible. “As the ruler of this mansion, I, Remilia Scarlet, have the luxury of deciding the fate of those who enter. Tell me, are you familiar with the story of Faust?”

“Yes,” he replied. “He sold his soul to the devil for knowledge.”

“I offer you this bargain - approach my throne and kneel at my feet. In exchange for your servitude, I shall rewrite your fate to ensure that you learn magic from Patchy.”

Tokoyami nodded - what she offered was more than a fair bargain for the opportunity to learn magic. He took a step forward.

Remilia chuckled to herself.

“My,” she said. “It seems you’re not as courageous as you claim. Your own unconscious fears have betrayed you, mortal...”

She pointed, a sharpened red fingernail aimed straight at Tokoyami’s feet.

“You just stepped  _ away _ from me.”

His blood ran cold as his eyes shot down. Sure enough, he had somehow moved backwards, as the ornate gold embroidery in the rug proved. Before, he had just stepped onto the edge of the decoration. Now? 

Now he was a solid foot away from it.

“If you have no intention of serving me,” Remilia stated, making a shooing motion with one hand, “then you are free to leave. You have my word that none of my servants will harm you on your way out.”

No! He couldn’t fail at the last moment, not when Mamizou had gotten him so close to his goal! Whatever unconscious fear had possessed him to take a step back, he was sure it could be consciously overcome! He had fought villains and demons, already put his life on the line - how could mere intimidation possibly outweigh what he had already conquered?

Screwing up his courage, he took another step, carefully and deliberately placing one foot in front of the other to be sure he was going forward.

He looked down again.

He had gotten even further from the golden pattern.

“Wh-what?” He gasped. “I’m sure I stepped forward!”

Summoning up Dark Shadow, he looked to the sentient quirk for insight, only to be met with a shrug and a helpless look. “I didn’t see anything you didn’t.”

“I’m rather disappointed, to be honest,” Remilia sighed. “It’s been so long since there was a new face around the mansion - to see that it’s nobody special… Perhaps I should simply drink your blood and be done with it.”

She snapped her fingers, and the maid immediately reappeared at her side.

“Yes, mistress?”

“Sakuya, if you could remove this intruder.”

Sakuya nodded. “At once.”

Suddenly, a barrage of knives materialized out of nowhere, aimed for him. It was only Dark Shadow’s intervention that saved him as the shadowy quirk pushed off the ground to launch him backwards.

“That Ability,” the quirk growled. “It’s not something like hypnosis or super speed. Whatever it is, we’re only just seeing the very basics of what she can do. We have to retreat.”

Tokoyami nodded in silent agreement, already turning to flee the throne room. The door, however, refused to open. Jammed, locked, it made no difference - he was trapped.

Another wave of knives appeared out of midair, wider than the first. If Tokoyami flung himself to the ground, he could dodge it, but that would put him in a bad position if there was any followup attack. If there was a better way for him to dodge - perhaps by weaving through the knives as they flew in…

He had waited too long. The projectiles were already moving.

Dark Shadow leapt up in front of him to try to at least deflect what it could.

The distinct sound of liquid spattering the floor rang out through the darkened room as the knives struck home on the doorway. And yet, Tokoyami felt no pain.

Izuku had appeared out of nowhere to intercept the attack, the knives aimed for Tokoyami turning to so much water and mud against the power of his Ability.

Looking interested for the first time, Remilia finally sat up straight, her gaze fixated on Izuku.

“Now you, I’ve heard of. Midoriya Izuku, was it? Futatsuiwa’s kid. Fumikage here must be a friend of yours, then.”

“Let him go,” Izuku warned.

“But of course,” she replied. “You’re far more interesting to me, after all - a fledgling youkai? And son of one of the most influential figures around? I’d be a fool to pass this up. So - I challenge you, Izuku. A Spell Card Duel, to decide the fate of your friend. That is, if you have any.”

Meeting her gaze, he held up one hand, the Manipulation of Change working to transform the air into three cards. Her grin only grew wider at the sight.

“Three cards, then? That’s more than acceptable. After all-”

She at last stood from her throne, two batlike wings unfolding from her back and stretching wide before beginning to flap lazily, suspending her lightly above the ground.

“-it’s been quite some time since I got to stretch my wings.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Byakuren herself is vegetarian and abstains from alcohol, though the different schools of Buddhism have different views on the permissiveness of meat.
> 
> Remilia likes to boast that she's descended from Vlad Tepes, but her profile in EoSD mentions that she's lying to make herself seem more impressive. In contrast to the youkai of the Myouren Temple (who I view as not entirely unlike a frat, a view not helped by Kyouko being a part-time member of a Punk band, Nue and Mamizou constantly pulling pranks, and the rest of the temple generally not being nearly as strict about the alcohol/vegetarian thing as Byakuren is), she's the sort to try to puff herself up and put on airs. Also, amusingly, the sort to try to pull Dio's "how many times have you eaten bread" line on someone, only to be foiled when her intended target turns out to have actually counted the number of times she's had bread.


	44. Septette for the Dead Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku duels a vampire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy smokes I broke 20k hits.
> 
> Chapter title is Remilia's boss music from Embodiment of Scarlet Devil.

Remilia wasted no time before invoking her first card.

“ Nether Sign ‘Scarlet Netherworld’ ”

Immediately, the air around her exploded into a dense cloud of blood red fog. At a gesture from her, the blood attacked, a barrage of gruesome red droplets soaring forth from the cloud in a wide spread. Though they had wide gaps between them, the droplets moved in diagonals as they approached Izuku, slowly choking out his escape routes and forcing him to move far more cautiously than the spacing of the bullets would have otherwise suggested. As he dove forward through an opening, one of the shots clipped his shoulder, giving him a brief jolt of stinging pain and temporary numbness.

Tokoyami looked on helplessly as the battle unfolded. He wanted to help Izuku - the only reason the fledgling youkai was even fighting Remilia was to protect him, after all - but interfering in the duel would only make things worse. He had no spell cards and no confidence in his ability to dodge for long. All he could do was watch.

“Y’see, it’s already started!” A voice exclaimed, and Tokoyami looked abruptly to his right to see Mamizou and Yukari emerging from a gap in space. The tanuki was in the middle of berating the purple-eyed youkai.

“Our timing is fine,” Yukari assured her. “Miss Scarlet has only just begun, and Izuku hasn’t even felt the need to invoke his first spell yet.”

“We’re still cutting it a bit close,” Mamizou grumbled. “If you hadn’t waited so long to warp us here - honestly, you show Izuku what’s going on with his friend and then wait nearly a minute to follow him over…”

“You and I both know you would have challenged Remilia yourself rather than let Izuku fight her. It was better for his development to let him handle this himself.”

“You planned this?” Tokoyami demanded, careful to keep his tone from sounding too aggressive.

“No,” she answered nonchalantly. “My intent was for him to have a friendly match against Ran once I thought he was ready, but this works just as well, even if the timing is admittedly a little earlier than I’d have liked.”

“Then if it wasn’t planned, how did you know to show him what was happening to me?”

“Oh, that’s quite simple,” Yukari explained.

With a wave of her hand, a gap in space opened just below his chin, and Tokoyami glanced into it to see over a dozen eyes staring back at him from the inky blackness. Just as soon as it had opened, it closed again, leaving no trace of its existence.

“I keep tabs on  _ everything _ that happens in Gensokyo.”

Finally, Izuku seemed to have found an opening in Remilia’s assault, giving him enough breathing room to invoke his first spell card.

“ Change Sign ‘Unpredictable Ricochet’ ,” he declared.

A simple name for an admittedly simple card.

A set of large shimmering projectiles sprayed forth - bullets made of air compressed into a solid form and colored to improve their visibility. In contrast to Remilia’s relentless blood, the air bullets slowed as they moved before eventually coming to a complete halt and hanging idly in midair.

As the projectiles came to a stop, Tokoyami opened his mouth to ask a question.

Mamizou immediately shushed him. “He figured this out this morning. There’s more to it.”

The moment the next wave of projectiles rolled in, the trick to Izuku’s attack became clear - the new bullets slammed into the old ones, sending the older group ricocheting around the place like a more elastic billiard ball. Before long, Remilia was assailed by a barrage of bouncing, unpredictable projectiles as the area around her steadily filled up.

All of a sudden, both spells collapsed - both Remilia and Izuku had suffered a clean hit from their opponent’s attack at precisely the same moment.

Determined to seize the momentum of the battle, Izuku immediately declared his next spell.

“ Flotsam Gyre .”

As with his first attack, this, too, was simple in concept, developed more for developing his proficiency with his Ability than anything else. With careful application of Change, he compressed the air into a compact pellet before teleporting it into the area around his opponent and imbuing it with motion. Two at a time, his air bullets winked into existence around Remilia and launched directly at her. Even as she dodged, the threat they posed remained, as the slow-moving bullets lingered on the field to stop her from making any careless movement.

“A name evoking the currents of the ocean as they carry debris? An interesting motif for a card,” Remilia observed. “Pristine emptiness that fills up with so much detritus over time - is that intentional commentary on man’s interaction with nature, or simply chance?”

Sidestepping another wave of the slow-moving projectiles, she frowned ever so slightly as the area continued to fill up with bullets. 

“Either way,” she continued, “it’s a rather dull card, don’t you think? It’s so  _ slow _ . Where’s the excitement? The adrenaline? And it’s got a glaring weakness too.”

After each wave, there was an opening - a few seconds before more attacks rolled in, and with the short, precise dodges Remilia had been making, the only bullets near her during this time were all traveling away from her. Thus, during this opening, she was completely safe. She took a wide stance, raising an open hand to the sky.

“ Divine Spear: ”

A massive spear of brilliant scarlet energy, nearly twenty feet in length, materialized in her open palm. Even from the other side of the room, Tokoyami was getting goosebumps from the raw power emanating from the weapon.

“That one might need some thought,” Mamizou observed.

“Indeed,” Yukari agreed. “It’s commendable that Izuku has combined two different applications of his Ability so soon, but an attack that leaves such a large opening against a skilled opponent is… rather lacking, to say the least.”

A manic grin on her face, Remilia threw the magical weapon, putting her whole body and strength into the motion as she launched the projectile towards her foe.

“ Spear the Gungnir ”

Gungnir flew forth, an all-consuming force of destruction that simply overpowered every projectile that littered the field and left nothing but empty space in its wake. Startled by the attack’s raw power, Izuku snapped out of his focused state, broke off the attack he was in the middle of launching, and jerked to the side just in time. The magical spear flew narrowly past his head, leaving him completely untouched and exploding into twinkling motes of scarlet energy on impact with the wall.

Before he could resume his assault, Remilia capitalized on the newly-cleared battlefield.

“ _ Demon Lord Walk. _ ”

Izuku barely registered a pink-and-black blur streaking towards him before the vampire was suddenly in his face, hands together and radiating scarlet energy. As he reflexively stepped back, a swarm of energy bats issued forth, grazing him as they flew from her hands in a wide, loose cone.

“Wait, Remilia just lost, right?” Tokoyami asked, looking to Mamizou for confirmation. “That’s the third named attack she’s used.”

Mamizou shook her head. “Nope. She’s still got one spell left.”

“What? But that move had a-”

“Remilia’s the theatrical type. Loves to give her attacks fanciful names even when they’re nothing special. That move, for instance - nothing fancy to it, no effort involved on her part. She’s just moving close to her top speed for a moment.”

Tokoyami was struck silent by that. He had never regarded vampires as being particularly fast - when he thought of them, he always thought of pale men skulking around in long cloaks, keeping away from sunlight, garlic, crosses, running water… the weaknesses of vampires were myriad, and, in most stories, their strengths hardly compensated for that.

Apparently sensing his awe, Mamizou continued. “Vampires are very high-class youkai, you know. They may have their fair share of weaknesses, but they’re as strong as the oni and fast as the tengu. Remilia likes to boast that she circumnavigated the moon on foot, during that Lunar incident a little while back. I don’t know how true that is myself - that was before I arrived in Gensokyo.”

“Oh, it’s very true,” Yukari replied. “She only got a little singed for it, too.”

“But how?” Tokoyami asked. “In most stories…”

“You know, I’m actually not sure,” she replied, humming thoughtfully. “If I had to hazard a guess, it may be due to the prevalence of the concept of ‘bloodlines’ in more modern vampire depictions - the idea that vampires, depending on their progenitors, have certain specialties. If that’s the case, then the Scarlet bloodline is a strong one indeed. Or, possibly, Remilia and her sister are simply anomalies - extremely strong outliers among their species, capable of walking around in daylight with only a parasol to shield them from the sun and more concerned with the aesthetic appeal of using cross imagery in their attacks than any warding effects said symbol may have. Either way, our sample size is too low - we only have three vampires in Gensokyo, and none of them have any inclination to produce more.”

While they had been chatting, Izuku had managed to open the gap again, dodging her attacks long enough to use his Ability to teleport himself away. She was a capable fighter, with strong attacks both close up and at range, and solid mobility stacked on top of that. However, despite being solid in all aspects, the vampire clearly preferred close range combat when she had the option - otherwise she wouldn’t have closed in on him after throwing Gungnir. He could use that.

Letting off another shotgun blast of loosely-aimed air bullets, he pulled out his last attack.

Mimicking her own stance from when she used Gungnir, Izuku held one open palm above his head. At the same time, he let loose a steady spray of bullets from his free hand. Ready to interrupt him, Remilia swept in, deftly weaving through his attack to once again draw in close. Exactly like he had been hoping she’d do.

While she had been navigating his attack, he had been changing the air pressure of the area above his head, focusing the atmosphere of that spot into an unnaturally small point as the pressure built up higher and higher.

And now, she was in range.

“ Pressure Change: Air Burst ,” he declared, releasing the influence his Ability held over the air above him.

From her reaction, it seemed like Remilia had been caught off-guard. In a last-ditch attempt to counter, she tried to invoke her last spell, but was just a little too slow to react.

“ Red the Nightless -”

Without Izuku’s conscious influence, the oxygen that had been gathered into one place by the increased pressure returned to its normal position - violently. The spell, only halfway through its invocation, was simply torn apart.

Remilia was blown across the room.

* * *

Remilia returned to her feet nearly instantly, looking none the worse for wear - and, indeed, extremely pleased with the outcome.

“You took it easy on me,” Izuku accused, feeling strangely hurt for some reason. “You only threw Gungnir once even though I didn’t successfully overcome that spell. You didn’t have to stop using it.”

“I took it easy on you by only using three spell cards,” Remilia replied. “If you want to complain that I didn’t fight you at full strength, that’s what you should be complaining about.”

“Why?”

“Why did I take it easy on you? Simple, really - to level the field. For you, the fight was a means to your goal - you wanted to win to secure your friend’s freedom. For me, the fight  _ was _ the goal. I would have let him go free regardless of who won.”

“Wait, but when you challenged Izuku you said-” Tokoyami started.

“‘A Spell Card Duel, to decide the fate of your friend’,” Remilia answered. “I thought I was quite forthcoming with the fact that I didn’t truly mean any harm.”

“You threw knives at me.”

“Correction:  _ Sakuya _ threw knives at you. And you dodged them quite nicely, at least for a bit.”

“If you truly mean no harm, then this won’t be a problem,” Izuku stated. “Since I won our duel, you have to do as I say.”

Remilia nodded.

“So - swear that Tokoyami will not come to any harm while he’s here.”

Rolling her eyes, she nodded. “Of course. He’s a guest, after all. Don’t you have training to be doing?”

Izuku gave her a flat look. She sighed loudly.

“Alright, fine, on the honor of my title as the Scarlet Devil, I, Remilia Scarlet, hereby vow that no harm shall come to the individual named Tokoyami Fumikage while they are a guest in my dwelling.”

Even this seemed not to satisfy Izuku until Yukari popped over to inform him of the significance of that oath.

“If Miss Scarlet is offering you a devil contract, you can rest assured she will follow it. We have an agreement that nobody from the mansion will attack any humans, and she has never shown any indication that she might break it, even in the midst of the Incident she caused.”

Finally satisfied, Izuku left with Yukari and Mamizou to continue his training.

The moment Izuku vanished, Remilia whirled on Tokoyami, a gleam in her eye. “So, would you like Patchy to examine your magical potential?”

He was taken aback by the offer, when she had seemed determined to simply be rid of him earlier. “Wh-what?”

“My Ability is the Manipulation of Fate itself,” she stated, as though that explained everything. “Should I desire it, anything I wish will come to pass. Tell me, Fumikage, do you know what the greatest problem I’ve encountered in my long life is?”

“Hunters coming to try to kill you?” He asked. Surely a vampire as powerful as Remilia had fought more than her share of opponents.

She laughed at his answer. It wasn’t the mocking laugh of the vampire lord she had presented before, but rather a light, airy laugh that matched her youthful exterior and almost made Tokoyami forget he was talking to a powerful vampire.

Almost.

“Boredom, Fumikage. Boredom. I have lived for five hundred years, and much of the time my days are dreadfully dull. I’ve learned to use my Ability to handle that.”

“So this was all going to happen?” Tokoyami asked. “My visit, Izuku’s challenge, your defeat - everything was as you decreed?”

Remilia looked almost insulted at the suggestion. “What did I just say? I’m  _ bored _ . I want  _ excitement _ in my life. How would setting this encounter in stone change that?”

“But-”

“It was Izuku’s Fate to come here and fight me. Nothing more, nothing less. Your arrival giving him a reason to come here, the particularly dramatic timing of his entrance, my defeat due to underestimating his final attack - none of that was set. So, I’d like to help you out, and give you what you came for, as a show of thanks for your role in all of this.”

Then, grinning, she added, “And by the way, your unexpected visit - and the opportunity it gave me - was arguably more entertaining than the fight itself.”

“Opportunity?”

“Does the word ‘Dio’ mean anything to you?”

Tokoyami looked lost. “It’s… italian for god, I think?”

Remilia let out a heavy sigh and motioned at her chief maid. “Sakuya, if you could please show our guest to the library?”

“At once, Mistress Remilia.”

* * *

The silver-haired chief maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion led Tokoyami down a long set of hallways before finally arriving at a large, simple set of double doors, less imposing than the ones for Remilia’s throne room, though no less polished.

“Lady Patchouli very rarely leaves the library,” Sakuya explained. “As such, the only real concern is whether her health permits a visit. Luckily for you, today is a good day. She should be able to answer any questions you may have.”

Pushing open the doors, Sakuya led him into a massive library, lit dimly by a number of glowing orbs that hovered around twenty feet in the air. Again, Tokoyami was reminded that the mansion was curiously larger on the inside than it was outside. Where the exterior was only three stories high, the library itself was almost double that, row upon row of bookshelves filled with all manner of texts towering far higher than what any normal human would find reasonable and disappearing off into the darkness. He took a look at one of the books on the nearest shelf. Simply looking at the strange runes that formed its title made his head spin.

“Yes? Can I help you?”

Blinking, he turned to see who had addressed him. A red-haired girl in a white-sleeved black dress was hovering there staring at him curiously, held aloft by two large batlike wings. Another pair of smaller bat wings protruded from her head, but they seemed purely decorative.

“I was wondering if you might be able to direct us to Lady Patchouli, Koakuma,” Sakuya said, causing the demon to stiffen up.

“Oh, Miss Sakuya, I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you! She should be about twenty stacks down, around where we keep the books on traditional Oni sorcery.”

Nodding, Sakuya led him deeper into the library, eventually coming to a stop at a large table that had been set up in the main walkway and absolutely covered in various books.

“I suppose I have a guest, then?” a faint voice asked from somewhere in the mess.

Sakuya nodded, though Tokoyami wasn’t sure whether she was visible to whoever was concealed behind the pile of books. 

“This is Tokoyami Fumikage,” she explained. “He’s hoping you could possibly teach him magic, if at all possible.”

“Has his potential been assessed?” the person who Tokoyami could only assume was Patchouli replied.

“That was also something Remilia suggested you could help with.”

“...very well. Just give me a moment to get these books out of the way.”

In an instant, the books were gone and neatly stacked on the ground next to the table, revealing a purple-haired girl in a faint pink outfit that very strongly resembled a set of pajamas complete with a nightcap decorated with a gold crescent moon. She looked pale, sickly, and like she hadn’t slept in days. She blinked at the sudden influx of light from the books’ sudden disappearance.

“...ah. Thank you, Sakuya.”

Sakuya nodded and vanished, leaving Patchouli to turn her attention to Tokoyami. She handed him a rolled up paper.

“Now, if you could simply take this scroll and focus on the magic circle it depicts...”

Holding it delicately as though it could disintegrate at any moment, he stared at the paper as requested. Truthfully, the circle didn’t look like much. The patterns that Reiko created on a regular basis were more complex. After a few moments of staring at the pattern with no result, Sakuya returned and placed two teacups on the table.

“Ah, thank you, Sakuya,” Patchouli replied. “And that should be enough, Tokoyami. Feel free to have some tea, if you’d like.”

Nodding, he picked up his teacup and took an idle sip from it while Patchouli examined the scroll she had given him.

“Your potential for magic is low,” she stated, cutting right to the chase. “Not the lowest I’ve seen, but low. The bigger issue is that you don’t have much magic to actually work with.”

That was… not as bad as he had feared, but also didn’t sound good.

“What does… what does that mean?” Tokoyami asked.

“Hm. I suppose the best analogy for it would be that of a hobbyist potter. You are roughly equivalent to someone just starting out crafting earthenware dishes, maybe after about a month of instruction. In short, if you were to be told how to construct a basic spell, you may be able to muddle your way through it.”

“I see.” That didn’t sound quite as bad, then.

“The bigger issue is your lack of usable magic. In this analogy, it’s like saying you have maybe a thumb-sized amount of clay to work with. You simply don’t have enough to make a proper bowl, no matter how much you try.”

His hand trembled slightly, shaking the teacup a little. That… that was what he had feared. Obviously magic needed more than one thing for it to be usable. Otherwise plenty of people in the Outside World would have it.

Either oblivious to his mental turmoil, or simply not caring about it, Patchouli continued.

“Now, you may have already heard this before, but if you were to stop maintaining the spell on your quirk, you’d have more magic to work with.”

Startled by the content of her recommendation, Tokoyami’s teacup slipped from his grasp.

* * *

Everything became still.

Patchouli’s emotionless visage, the shock on Tokoyami’s face, the teacup that had only just slipped from the boy’s grasp - all of it, frozen in time.

Sakuya calmly grabbed Tokoyami’s teacup, considerately avoiding jarring his hand as she retrieved it, examined it for any scratches, and, finding it to be pristine, placed it to the side. With the delicate object out of the way, she then retrieved a clean towel from one of the pockets of her uniform and used it to clean up the errant liquid as it hung suspended in midair.

Now with a dirty towel and an empty teacup, she departed the library and made her way through the mansion’s winding hallways before she finally arrived at the kitchen. One quick washing later (she could never trust the mansion’s fairy maids to do their jobs), she placed the now-clean cup back in the cupboard before retrieving a new, identical teacup and setting a teapot on the kitchen’s stove to boil and departing to put the dirtied towel into the laundry. Upon her return, the teapot was, of course, no closer to boiling than it had been when she left.

Time was stopped, of course.

So, instead, she simply used her Manipulation of Time again, shifting the teapot forward in time along its timeline until it reached a point where it had not only boiled, but had tea steeped in it and been allowed to cool for precisely enough time for the beverage to be pleasantly warm. Filling the new teacup, she then returned to the library and took her place beside the table.

With a simple mental command from her, time resumed.

* * *

Before Tokoyami could even attempt to catch the falling teacup, it abruptly vanished, and the next thing he knew the mansion’s head maid was offering him a new teacup. More than a little unnerved, he hesitantly accepted it.

“Oh, uh, thanks.”

Shaken, he placed the cup down on the table before continuing to talk to Patchouli.

“I’m… I’m sorry, what did you say just now?”

She raised one eyebrow quizzically. “Were you not aware? You’ve been maintaining a spell on your quirk the entire time you’ve been in here. I assumed you had cast it as a precaution when encountering Remilia.”

He shook his head slowly, still not quite believing what she had said. “You must be mistaken - I’ve never once cast a spell, I didn’t even know if I could  _ use _ magic! That’s why I came here!”

She stared at him blankly for a moment before turning her attention to his shadow. “You there, quirk.”

Irritably, Dark Shadow drew up from Tokoyami’s feet. “I have a  _ name _ , you know.”

Undeterred, Patchouli continued. “When do you first recall being aware?”

“Hm? I awakened at the same time most quirks do, when Fumi was four.”

“I see. And did you ever notice anything unusual about him during your day-to-day life?”

Dark Shadow shook its head. “No, nothing’s ever been odd about Fumi outside of him practically memorizing most myths.”

Tokoyami felt slightly betrayed at his own quirk calling his interests odd - though he supposed they might indeed have been odd were it not for the fact that, as it turned out, folklore was for the most part real.

“That’s not odd,” Patchouli replied. “And during this recent incident you were involved in, when you fought a demon in the Outside World, you didn’t notice anything odd about its reactions to your attacks?”

“It seemed resistant to them, if that’s what you mean,” Dark Shadow offered.

“Though Yanagi has indicated that’s how it  _ should _ feel, if you’re not using something supernatural to fight a supernatural entity,” Tokoyami added.

“And this ‘Yanagi’ is correct to state so,” Patchouli replied. “I’m simply narrowing down what type of enchantment you may have placed on your quirk, so you can choose whether to remove it or not. And I believe I’ve found the answer.”

“And?” They asked, simultaneously.

“I believe you cast a rudimentary intelligence enhancement on your quirk at a young age. There’s precedent for it - Abe no Seimei was able to command oni by the age of five, and that is far more complex a spell than the basic enchantment I suspect to be at play here.”

“I… I see,” Tokoyami muttered. To go from wishing he could use magic to learning he had cast a spell long ago without even consciously knowing it…

“But, am I correct in assuming that If I were to remove my spell…?”

Patchouli nodded. “Unfortunately, it is very likely this would lead to a change in your quirk’s personality. I cannot say how much or what parts of your quirk are because of this intelligence enhancement versus what parts are natural.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically, Remilia's mixing Spell Card from the Shmups and the 2d fighters. Izuku sort of is as well - if I had to put them into a game, his third card (the air pressure bomb) would work way better as a fighting game spell card than a shmup one.


	45. Intermezzo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tokoyami negotiates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A pre-battle theme from Immaterial and Missing Power. Well, in this case I chose it simply because this chapter is effectively an intermission, wrapping up the Gensokyo training now that I've hit the main points I wanted to hit.

Tokoyami was silent for a long moment as thoughts raced through his head - the possible impact of the spell, the downsides of removing it from Dark Shadow, the likely strength of a spell cast without conscious knowledge. Finally, he came to one conclusion:

He couldn’t do it.

He couldn’t ask Patchouli to lift the enchantment on Dark Shadow, no matter what the possible upsides may be. Sure, at best it might have no effect while freeing up his magical capacity to use proper spells, but at worst? If Dark Shadow owed its sentience to his enchantment?

“...is there really no other way?” Tokoyami asked.

“There are plenty of other ways,” Patchouli replied evenly. “The issue, for you, is time and practicality.”

“Practicality?”

“Look at me,” she stated. “I have anemia, asthma, vitamin A deficiency, and various heavy metal poisonings. The amount of power I can bring to bear on any given day is heavily dependent on whether my health will allow me to make it through an incantation. Do you truly think that I - or, rather, a person with similar deficiencies to myself - can perform the duties of a hero?”

He was about to answer yes - that Reiko was demonstrably capable of combat despite her own persistent injury and lack of direct physical capabilities, that Patchouli herself undoubtedly had powers that far outstripped the amateur magician’s, but he paused. Could  _ he _ handle heroics in that situation? If he was frail and sickly, could he manage his quirk as effectively? Even in the fights he had had so far, both in training and against actual villains, Dark Shadow had at times been yanking him around, and his own mobility had been key as well.

Taking his silence as an answer in its own right, Patchouli leaned back in her chair and took a sip of tea before continuing. “You came here asking me to teach you magic. As things stand, such an endeavor would be pointless unless undertaken over a long period of time, and I have no intention of taking on a long-term apprentice. That being said...”

Koakuma, the demonic librarian who had met him at the entrance, flew up and gently laid a book on the table in front of him.

“Take it,” Patchouli told him. “If you truly intend to learn magic despite your handicap, I would suggest you commit the contents of that tome to memory.”

“This is?”

“A collection of simple alchemy recipes. None of them deal with toxic metals, I assure you - a number of them are taken from one of our local magicians who much prefers mushrooms as her medium. At worst, you may find yourself dealing with an ill-tempered mixture exploding in your face.”

“ _ Exploding? _ ”

Ignoring the outburst, she continued. “The potions will not make a proper substitute for actual spells, but they should give you an outlet for the small amount of magical power you have available to you. Now, if you have no further questions, I would appreciate it if you were to leave me to my research.”

* * *

“A list of reagents?” Mamizou asked, messily slurping from a bowl of tanuki udon as she sat on the front steps of the Myouren Temple.

“Yeah,” Tokoyami said. “Miss Knowledge gave me this book of potion recipes, but I think most of the ingredients aren’t available back in Japan. At the very least there’s a lot of mushrooms that I’m pretty sure don’t exist out there.”

“Lemme take a look.”

He slid the book over to her, cringing when she didn’t even bother to finish slurping her mouthful of noodles before looking at it. Thankfully, the book had been warded by Patchouli and repelled any stray droplets of broth as the tanuki idly flipped through the pages with one hand.

“Yeah, alright, that’s plenty doable. You got the stuff back out there to brew this?”

“Lab equipment should be fine, right?”

“Yeah, if your school lets you borrow them.”

“In the worst case I should be able to purchase the equipment myself,” he replied.

“Good, good. I can send my underlings out to gather those tonight and you’ll have about a month’s worth of ingredients by tomorrow. That’ll have to do for now, though - any more and Marisa’s gonna get on my case about overharvesting, and picking a fight with her is almost as bad as picking one with Reimu.”

Tokoyami almost wanted to ask, but didn’t.

Turning back to her meal, Mamizou added, “Anyways, consider that an apology from me for what happened.”

“You weren’t at fault,” Tokoyami replied. “Yanagi thought visiting the mansion might bear fruit, so-”

“Reiko returned to the Outside World first thing this morning,” she interrupted. Seeing the look of shock on his face, she continued, “Oh, you didn’t know? You got tricked. One of my old friends, actually - shoulda been watching her more closely.”

“An old friend of yours? Like another notable tanuki, or…”

“Oh, better than that - normally I’d feel bad about outing her like this, but she already told you who I am, so… you ever heard of the Nue?”

Across the temple yard, a nondescript monk started shrieking in their direction. Predictably, the resident yamabiko joined in, producing a slight echo.

“Mamizou, you absolute rat, don’t you dare!”

Tokoyami wasn’t paying any attention to that, however. “No way.”

“Oh yes,” Mamizou confirmed, a huge grin on her face. “That one-of-a-kind chimeric youkai survived her encounter with Yorimasa and managed to live on to this day! On top of that, none of the humans ever found out her true form - every painting they have of her is hilariously wrong.”

“Really?” he asked, staring at the tanuki with rapt attention. “What does she actually look like, then?”

“I’m afraid I’m not telling you that,” she replied. “That’s just a bridge too far - she’d strangle me in my sleep if I gave  _ that _ away.”

“Oh.”

“Anyways,” Mamizou continued, leaning to the side casually as the nondescript monk lunged at her and missed, “you’ve been here for a couple days now - it’s probably about time you went back to the Outside World, don’t you think? I’ll send you back tomorrow, once my underlings have yer mushrooms and stuff.”

“But Miss Yakumo was saying we should learn to use Spell Cards,” he protested.

“Spell Card dueling requires some means of making nonlethal projectiles,” she replied. “You just don’t have that yet. If you work at these potions of yers, then maybe soon, but currently? You’d need a bodyguard anywhere you go, and honestly, that’s a bit of a tall order for youkai. Besides, you and Uraraka really probably should get going - I know you guys have that deal with your principal or whatever, but it might get suspicious if you just drop off the face of the earth for two weeks.”

“But Midoriya-”

“Will get done with his training when he’s done with it. And it’s a lot less suspicious that Inko and I are also gone with him than it is if you disappear with your parents none the wiser.”

* * *

Tsukauchi picked up the phone before it had even rung a second time. He had been stuck on desk work ever since the absolute debacle that Kamino had devolved into. Really, he was surprised he had gotten off as lightly as he had, considering the casualty rate.

“Musutafu precinct office, Tsukauchi speaking.”

“Hey Tsukauchi, sorry to spring this on you on short notice, but we need a few more officers over here.”

He recognized the voice as Inspector Sashiki, one of the higher-ups in the neighboring city of Baruunda. Suppressing a groan, he replied as diplomatically as possible.

“Certainly, Inspector Sashiki. I’ll forward your request as quickly as possible.”

“Look, I’m sorry that I need to keep calling about this, we just need every hand we can get over here. You know most criminals aren’t gonna pull anything over in Musutafu, not with UA right there. Everywhere else, though, villain activity’s on the rise - with the loss of the Symbol of Peace, and the League continuing to escape justice, the less savory types feel like they’re free to run wild.”

“That’s not a police issue, though,” Tsukauchi pointed out, careful to keep his tone neutral. He was already stepping a bit over the line for what was meant to be a make-work punishment detail. “If you’re having issues with villains, ask the Hero Commission to increase presence in the area.”

“Oh, certainly,” Sashiki replied. “And that’s not why I’m asking for some of your manpower. What  _ is _ a police issue is that on top of the rise in villains, the various black market support dealers have massively improved their designs and a new variety of Trigger has also entered circulation.”

“A new type of Trigger?” Tsukauchi asked. “I hadn’t heard about this.”

“It took us a while to even confirm its existence,” Sashiki replied. “As far as we can tell, it only started being manufactured around six months ago, and is significantly easier to smuggle than previous formulas.”

“How much easier?”

“It’s a pill, rather than an injection.”

“Shit.” That  _ was _ bad - it was far easier for a villain to sneak a dose by downing a pill rather than stabbing themselves with a syringe. Not for the first time, Tsukauchi found himself wishing there was some sort of drug they could use to shut down villains’ quirks.

“Thankfully, it doesn’t seem to have become widespread yet - whoever’s manufacturing it is trying to keep a low profile, so they’ve only distributed it to select groups. We’re looking into that now - with any luck we’ll be able to find some common thread to narrow down the manufacturer.”

“Has it shown up anywhere else yet?”

“At the moment we’ve only confirmed it here in Baroonda. We’re hoping we caught it early enough that we can shut the manufacturer down sooner rather than later.”

* * *

Ranbou Goro was the leader of a small but ascendant gang that had been steadily gaining influence over the past couple months. Several skirmishes with rival groups had made it clear that his boys - the Buzzards - had the strongest quirks of any gang in the area. They owed their dominance to a hidden patron, one who supplied them with a steady stream of drugs to enhance their abilities.

It was because of that patron that Ranbou was sitting in his apartment’s living room at 1 in the morning, talking to a tall man in a black cloak, bowler hat, and a face-concealing plague doctor mask.

“Didn’t think he’d send someone like  _ you _ out here,” the small-time gang leader chuckled. “What, finally find your way into the boss’s good books or what?”

“My Quirk,” Nemoto Shin replied easily, “is an effective insurance measure against deception. Overhaul understands this.”

“Weird that he keeps you at arm’s length, though. You’d think with a power like that he’d use you more, but he never seems to bring you along when he’s making a personal appearance.”

“It’s not my place to question the boss.”

“Of course, of course. Anyways, I assume you got the brief, so do your thing.”

“How long ago were you approached by the police?”

“Three days ago. They reached out to one of my boys hoping he’d sell our suppliers out. I got word to you guys the moment it happened.”

If Shin’s quirk unnerved the gang leader, he didn’t show it - even as Confession forced him to truthfully answer every question he was posed, Ranbou was completely at ease with the interrogation, sure he had nothing to hide. Shin appreciated that. It wasn’t often he met someone with that sort of honesty.

“What happened to your man?”

“They took him in, but he got word to us with his quirk - he can whisper out of any pictures of him.”

“That’s a useful quirk.”

“Sure is - he’s been feeding me info for the past few days.”

“I see. Does that include whether they’ve approached others?”

“Doesn’t seem like they have. I think we’re the first gang they really tried to press.”

“But they’ll approach other groups before long, once it’s clear you have nothing to offer them.”

“Yeah, most likely. You guys aren’t supplying any other gangs around here, are you?”

“I’m asking the questions here,” Shin reminded him.

“Right, right. Got any more for me, then?”

“Just one - do you know who’s behind this investigation?”

“The cops’re trying to play it off like it’s all them, that their Inspector Sashiki’s the brains of the operation, but they’re not as slick as they think - my guy’s overheard bits and pieces of conversation about the operation when they think he’s not in earshot, and they seem to be working closely with some Hero agency from out of town. Nighteye, I think?”

“I see. I suppose it was only a matter of time till our activities drew hero attention. By the way, does anyone else in your gang know we’re supplying you with Trigger, or that I’m meeting with you?”

The gang leader shook his head. “No, nobody. They all know that we’re getting Trigger from somewhere, of course, but you guys were clear that you wanted secrecy - I haven’t told a soul that you’re our patrons here.”

Then, a look of confusion came across his face. “Wait, why do you even need to know that, any-”

** _BANG_ **

The gang leader slumped over dead, a hole in his head. Quickly reholstering his pistol, Shin made his way across the apartment to the window, slipping it open and dropping to the alley below. Guns were far from commonly used among criminals - a lethal weapon that loudly reported its usage was less than ideal, especially in an era where a significant chunk of the population had built-in lethal weapons that were less overt. No doubt someone was calling the police at that very moment.

Sure enough, the sound of sirens could be heard in the distance the moment Shin exited the alley, his highly suspicious plague mask and cloak hidden in a suitcase and leaving him the picture of a beleaguered salaryman heading home at an ungodly hour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this time because I didn't really feel like rolling straight into licensing exams but the special move training was already sorta half done by Izuku's training in Gensokyo.
> 
> Baruunda is named for Baroonda, yet another planet from the star wars podracer game.
> 
> 'Ranbou' is taken from part of one word for 'Thug', and 'Goro' is taken from another way to write 'Thug', so he's 'Thug Thug'.


	46. Not a chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My apologies.

Sorry, this isn't actually a chapter - I wasn't entirely happy with how the current chapter was turning out, and between last week's chapter being a bit shorter and my update timing slowly scooting further and further back I decided I'm going to take another week or (hopefully not) two to get this one shipshape (and hopefully build up a backlog (who am I kidding)).

My apologies again, I'll delete this chapter when I actually put up a new chapter.


End file.
